Fairytales and Dragons
by kdzl
Summary: Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten. AU Emily/Dave; Hotch and JJ as little kids.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **_I've said this before, but I write fanfic that I like to read. This is different from what I normally write, so if you don't like it, that's fine. In this AU Hotch is 9, JJ's 7, and they're being abused by their parents. _

_Warning: Mentions of Child Abuse_

_P.S. If there's anything you'd like to see, I've got about 15 chapters of this story written, but I'd love to put in more._

* * *

><p><em>"Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." –G. K. Chesterton<em>

* * *

><p>"Prentiss, are you sure you should even be here?" Penelope Garcia asked, gingerly voicing the concern that seemed to plague the entire team.<p>

"Don't you start on me too." Emily rolled her eyes, "Between the guys, and now you, you'd think I was made of glass. I lost the baby, that's all." She forced her voice not to waiver. "It's not a big deal."

"Gum-drop, it's okay to be devastated." Garcia sighed as she sipped her super java concoction across the table from her best friend and co-worker in a small town that should never see the horrors that brought the illustrious BAU to their front door. "Maybe this just wasn't the right time."

"I know." Emily Prentiss sighed. Fighting the surprising swell of emotions that bubbled to the surface and threatened to make her voice tremble. "It's just Dave and I have been trying for so long—"

"Dave?" Garcia shivered, consciously trying to lighten the conversation. "Ew. That's still so weird for you to call him that."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Generally when you've been seeing someone for two years, you call them by their first name."

"But he was our _boss_."

"_Was._" Emily pointed out. "Now Derek's in charge. And while now we _could_ have a baby, God apparently has a vendetta against me." Realizing that she had yet again brought the conversation back to the greatest obstacle in her life, she shrugged easily, pretending as if her heart wasn't shattering. "It's fine."

Penelope sighed, "Oh Em." She frowned, hating her friend's heartache.

Emily frowned as she sipped her Diet Coke, fighting the lump in her throat. "I think we'd be good parents." She added softly.

"You would." Garcia responded immediately, knowing that while Emily might put on a brave face, this was killing her inside. "You _will._"

Emily's fingers gently swiped at her eyes as if scratching an itch, flicking away the small pools of tears that had accumulated. This time was harder. This time she had felt their child growing inside her for months, just to have the thing she longed for most snatched away.

Maybe she just wasn't destined to be a mother.

Catching sight of the time on her phone, she sighed. "We should probably go."

"Probably. But Em? You may be a bad-ass FBI Agent, but if you ever need to talk, I'm here. You know that right?"

Touched, Prentiss smiled sadly. "I know. It's just hard."

Penelope frowned, despising that there wasn't some magic wand she could waive to make everything better.

"Oomph." Penelope grunted, uncharacteristically surprised as she tripped over a small figure with the contents of her purse spewing all over the sidewalk. What looked to be like a six or seven year old girl instantly jumped up from the ground and started helping Penelope gather her belongings.

"Hi Sweetheart." Emily helped the girl to her feet, surprised to find the girl comprised of no more than what felt to be skin and bones. "Are you okay?"

The girl panted slightly, looking around nervously before smiling shyly and nodding.

Out of the corner of her eye, Emily noticed a tall, skinny, black-haired boy watching them. Turning her attention back to the young blonde girl in front of her, she smiled reassuringly. "We didn't see you there. Are you sure you're ok?"

The girl glanced back and Emily followed her gaze toward the slightly older boy. "Is that your brother?"

The little girl nodded, speaking up for the first time. "Sorry."

"It's my fault." Garcia dismissed, brushing her brightly colored skirt off as she resituated herself.

The little girl surprised Emily by throwing her arms around the seasoned profiler and giving her a warm hug before she scampered off and waved, her brother following her as they disappeared around a corner.

"You okay?" Emily turned to her friend, brushing off the dirt softly dusting Penelope's neon green suit jacket.

"I'm fine." Penelope nodded, looking through her purse to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. "Wait!" She felt her pockets just to be sure. "That little urchin stole my wallet!" Garcia gasped, horrified.

"What? No." Prentiss shook her head, glancing into Garcia's purse just to be sure.

"Em. It's gone." Penelope held out her open purse as proof.

Emily glanced around, "Are you sure you didn't just miss it? It could have fallen out?"

"Um, Em? _Yes._ I'm sure. Check your stuff, make sure she didn't take anything of yours."

"My badge." Emily groaned as she felt into her empty pocket.

"Don't worry. I'll find that pipsqueak in no time."

Emily glanced back to the corner where she had last seen the little girl, having an odd feeling that maybe in this case things weren't exactly as they appeared.

.oOo.

"Why the hell are you smiling?" Their mother, a tall woman with blonde hair and striking blue eyes that did nothing to undermine the fear she struck in the two children, rolled her eyes. "What do you have to be proud of?" She sneered at her daughter, "Did you finally learn to tie your stupid shoes?"

"Sorry." The little girl murmured, her brother wisely staying silent.

Looking over the small collection of cash and credit cards, she took a long drag of the joint in her hands before eyeing her two children coldly. "This is it? For the both of you?"

The seven year old, Jennifer, glanced back toward her older brother, biting her lip as she nodded.

"Brat." Shelby Hotchner murmured, grabbing JJ forcefully by the arm. "It's not enough." She spat.

"I tried Mommy." JJ pled, itching for some form of motherly affection.

"Go wait for your father." She pushed the little girl toward the front room and the child obeyed reluctantly.

"Mom, no! It wasn't her fault." The boy spoke up urgently, "She stole this all. It's my—" He had been so caught up in trying to assume the blame that he hadn't seen his mother lift her hand and was cut off as she smacked him harshly across the face.

"Don't you _dare_ talk back to me." She raised her eyebrow at her only son who cradled his cheek in surprise. "Wait for me upstairs."

Aaron Hotchner was not a boy who cried.

Ever.

At nine years old, he learned that crying was for the weak, an avenue for kids whose parents gave a damn to pay attention to them. And all the little boy who went by the name 'Hotch' wanted was for his parents to forget about him.

And his sister.

But apparently that was asking too much.

JJ had only lied for him because she knew how much he hated stealing. It should be the big brother's job to protect his sister, not the other way around. Yet JJ was well aware how much Hotch detested the task their parents had given them.

Bring home money.

That was all they had to do. Yet when the amount wasn't enough, JJ was the one who was blamed (like always).

And he, her big brother, couldn't do anything to stop it.

Ascending the stairs, he heard his sister's pained whimpers from the front room and water (_not_ tears) involuntarily escaped down his cheeks as he let himself into his bedroom. He didn't know what happened when JJ spent time alone with their father. But he knew it was bad.

He had tried to protect her.

But he just wasn't strong enough.

And now, despite JJ lying for him, he was in trouble too.

This wasn't right. It wasn't fair. He knew it. He knew this wasn't how parents were supposed to treat their children. But as the door opened and his mother stood in the doorway with the familiar thin electrical cords in her hands, Hotch felt his stomach drop.

It didn't matter what was fair.

Right now, Hotch had more important things to worry about.

Like surviving.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **_A reader asked me to clarify: JJ (Jennifer Jareau Hotchner) and Hotch are biological children of some pretty awful people. JJ's never been to school, but their "nicknames" came out of wanting to differentiate who they were versus who their parents yelled at- - it makes sense in my brain, so unfortunately you are all just going to have to deal with that._

* * *

><p>David Rossi frowned as he watched his long-term girlfriend flip through yet another case file, searching for any connection between the case they were investigating in this po-dunk town and the boxes of case files that hadn't yet been transcribed. He could see the dark circles under her eyes and felt a swell of frustration that there was nothing he could do to just make it all better.<p>

"Em, why don't you go back to the hotel to get some sleep?" He suggested softly, not wanting to embarrass her but genuinely worried for her.

She glared at him with annoyance behind the long bangs that had fallen in front of her eyes. "I'm fine Dave."

"Prentiss. Go back to the hotel." Derek, seemingly coming out of nowhere, ordered. "None of us have slept. Reid's out interviewing a witness and we'll need fresh eyes tomorrow."

Annoyed that her friend and boss was ordering her around, she quirked her eyebrow in surprise.

"Please?" Morgan asked, smirking charmingly as soon as he realized where his abrupt command was directed. There weren't many instances where he felt that his friendships slowed down his semi-newfound authority. But there were some lines not even he dared to cross, and ordering around a sleep-deprived, still emotionally vulnerable, Emily Prentiss was one of those.

She sighed and stood, quickly leaving the precinct as she avoided Dave's watchful gaze, relenting more out of a sense of duty than appeasement to the two men who annoyed her more than any others.

In reality, they were only worried.

Any other time, she might find it sweet.

Sliding her keycard into the cheap hotel room door, she creaked her neck as she prepared herself for another night on a lumpy cheap mattress.

Sometimes she hated her job.

She pushed the door open, expecting the empty room to surround her. A soft sound in the corner surprised her, causing her to whip out her gun instantly.

She stepped back as her mind registered the size of the intruder, a young boy with raven black hair wearing nothing more than a t-shirt and pair of shorts as he rummaged through a desk drawer.

The boy spun around quickly, surprised at having been caught red-handed as he dropped whatever he had been holding. She recognized him instantly as the boy from the day before, the dark hair and dark eyes unmistakable even in the dimly lit hotel room.

"How did you get in here?" She asked curiously, flipping on the lights in the dim room, in no way threatened by the lanky boy. More than anything, she was slightly amused that not only had his sister managed to steal her badge seamlessly, but that this boy had broken into their hotel room.

The boy shrugged.

"What's your name?" Emily queried, putting her gun away and closing the door behind her.

The boy paused for a moment, shuffling his feet though he looked to her defiantly. "Hotch."

"What are you doing here, Hotch?"

The boy shrugged, and Emily stepped over to the corner he was in, catching sight of her badge laying haphazardly on the ground. "You were returning it?" She couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice.

The little boy nodded simply.

"Do your parents know you're here?" She asked, not wanting to ask the real question that was plaguing her. _Do you even have parents?_

The boy shrugged, and she wondered if she really would get any sort of response.

"Should I call them?"

Hotch looked up, horrified. "No. I'm sorry. Please don't tell them. She didn't know." He begged.

"Your sister?"

Hotch nodded, looking down as if defeated.

She almost felt sorry for him, he looked so skinny and helpless.

Now that she thought about it, the boy looked as if he was starving. "When was the last time you ate?" She couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Yesterday." The boy mumbled as if that was the most obvious explanation in the world. "At school."

Emily frowned at the sight of such a young boy eating nothing for nearly 24-hours.

"Shouldn't you be at school now?" She asked, unable to help herself as she looked at the clock that confirmed it was just after eleven in the morning.

The boy shrugged again in response and she was beginning to assume that was the best she was going to get.

Emily rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She took down UnSubs on a daily basis. A young boy posed little problem.

"Come with me, I'll buy you some lunch." She offered, "And then you go right home, okay?"

The boy nodded slowly, as if calculating what hidden agenda she could possibly have.

Emily smiled easily, opened the door and stepped outside. "Are you coming?" She forced herself to sound nonchalant.

Slowly, Hotch stepped toward her, keeping her at arm's length as he followed her down to the small diner beside the lobby of the hotel. Emily chose a booth near the corner, some place the boy wouldn't feel threatened but somewhere they would have relative privacy. She ordered for herself, and nearly laughed at the boy's shock when she encouraged him to buy anything on the menu.

At least, she would have laughed if it wasn't so sad.

In the end, the boy ordered a cheese burger and fries, eyeing her for any sign of anger or annoyance at his choice. She smiled encouragingly, adding a milkshake on their small order. As they ate, she noted curiously how the boy's food seemed to disappear in his hands, his nimble fingers just slow enough to let her watch as he alternated between putting a piece in his mouth, and stuffing a slightly larger piece into his pocket. She was startled from their relative quiet lunch by the boy muttering something with a full mouth.

"What was that, Hotch?" She asked, catching a glimpse of a dark circle on the inside of his wrist that was gone as quickly as it had come.

"JJ didn't know what it was, she thought it was your wallet." He mumbled.

"And you wanted to bring it back?"

Hotch shrugged, "I don't like stealing."

Emily nodded, choosing her words carefully. "Why do you do it then?" She inquired.

Hotch's face remained impassive, ignoring the question. "When she showed me it, I knew you were the police." He rubbed the back of his head nervously, suddenly seeming far older than the little boy she had just watched eat half of a cheese burger. "It's wrong to steal."

"It is." Emily agreed simply.

"Are you really the police?" He asked after a while, taking a large sip of the chocolate shake in front of him.

"The F-B-I." Emily nodded in a hushed tone, nearly falling in love with the boy right there as his eyes lit up in awe.

"Do you have a gun?" The boy asked curiously.

Emily smiled, opening her mouth to answer before a voice cut her off.

"Aaron Hotchner!" The boy's eyes widened fearfully and immediately slipped out of the booth to face a tall blonde woman looking at him angrily. "Where the hell have you been?"

At a quick glance, a person might think the woman towering over the little boy was beautiful. As Emily studied her, however, she noticed the harsh creases along her face and a menacing scowl as she stared down at the boy.

"Sorry." Hotch mumbled, not bothering to look up.

Emily frowned as she watched Hotch pat his pocket, carefully concealing the food she knew was hidden inside, as the woman continued her tirade. "You're supposed to be at _school, _and I find you here begging for food?" The woman snorted, "Just wait until we get home."

"Excuse me." Emily interrupted, standing quickly. "I'm sorry, I'm Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss with the FBI." She stuck her hand out, "I hope I didn't get Hotch into any trouble, but I just wanted to ask him some questions."

The woman cocked her eyebrow and looked at her son. "You answered this nice lady's questions?" She asked, her voice cold and flat. Emily wasn't certain if she had just made the whole situation worse, or if the woman wanted her son to be as helpful as possible.

Hotch, however, knew better. He was in trouble. Hanging his head even lower than before, he nodded slightly.

"I'm sorry." The woman who still hadn't identified herself batted her hair out of her eyes, and smiled at Emily before grabbing Hotch forcefully by the shoulder and pushing him toward the door. "My son- - Aaron, he just likes to make up stories sometimes. I hope you understand if I take him right back to school?"

"No, I totally understand." Emily tried to catch Hotch's gaze, but the boy's head never even looked up. "It was nice meeting you Hotch."

The child gave a non-committal grunt, and left the diner with his mother close behind without another word.

Emily frowned. Something wasn't right. Pulling out her cell phone, she quickly dialed the best source for information she knew.

_'Mountain of the Oracle, speak and be heard.' _Garcia's chipper voice came over the line, despite the fact that Emily knew she was holed up in a dark corner of this town's precinct.

"Garcia, hey it's me. I just got my badge back. Could you do a favor for me?"

_'Anything.'_

"Run a search for Aaron Hotchner, boy about 8. Let me know everything you can about the family and the parents." She glanced back to the door as it closed behind the little boy and his mother.

_'Is there a reason?' _Garcia asked, her fingers flying feverishly over the keyboard.

"I just have a hunch."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **_I'm glad so many readers picked up on Hotch bringing home food for JJ. In all of this, I think there are character traits from both Hotch and JJ that are innate and would be who they are if they were 5, 30, or 60._

* * *

><p>Emily stood outside with Reid, looking in at the small child who was coloring carefully at the interrogation table with another adult sitting off to the side.<p>

"Are you okay to do this?" Spencer asked, well aware that interrogating a child would be difficult for anyone.

Emily always had a soft spot for kids.

"I'm fine." She waved his concern away. "Unless you want to join me?"

Reid chuckled nervously and shook his head, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Reid effect." He smiled uncomfortably, "Remember?"

Emily rolled her eyes, smiling. "Whatever." She dismissed his objection gently, well aware if she asked him to accompany her that he would be by her side in an instant. She was also painfully aware that interrogating a seven year old girl was probably something that was Reid's worst nightmare. She felt her heart swell slightly at the thought, a surge of gratitude for friends she would willingly give her life for.

"I'll just- -" Reid gestured to the observation window, not wanting Emily to think he was leaving her alone. "I'll watch from here."

Emily nodded, bracing herself as she gingerly pushed the door to the interrogation room open. "Hi Jennifer, I'm Emily." She felt an indescribable urge to wrap the little girl in a big hug as the child looked up at her with big blue terrified eyes.

"Am I going to jail?" The little girl shifted uncomfortably in the large metal chair as she glanced back down quickly. Emily felt a pang of emotion strike her as she quickly caught the dull lifelessness that seemed to dim any hint of youthfulness.

What had this child experienced to make her ask such a question? Or to make her wise beyond her years?

Shaking her head, she forced her longing aside as she focused on the matter at hand.

Something was going on with this family, and she was determined to figure out what it was.

"No." The Child Advocate, a younger woman in her early thirties smiled easily at the child after shooting a glance at Emily who had apparently taken too long to answer the question. "She would just like to ask you some questions."

"Do you understand Jennifer?" Emily asked gently. "We just want to ask you some questions."

The little girl bristled at the name, swaying nervously in her chair as if it physically pained her to sit still.

"mm'kay." The girl sat back, seemingly satisfied with the response as she resumed coloring, her index and middle finger finding their way into her mouth as she sucked on them for comfort.

"Jennifer, what's your favorite color?" Emily asked, trying to establish a baseline relationship with the child.

"Purple." Jennifer replied instantly, her fingers leaving her mouth only long enough to say the word as she continued to color brightly.

"Oh, that's a pretty color." Emily remarked, pleased to see the little girl smile briefly before resuming her task at hand. "What are you drawing Jennifer?"

The little girl shifted uncomfortably. "Death." JJ explained as she took the black crayon and began scribbling a dark black mass.

Emily noticed the way the little girl bristled each time her name was spoken. "Do you have a name you'd rather I call you, like a name your friends call you?" She asked.

"I don't have any friends." The little girl stated simply.

Emily's heart shattered for the seven year old in front of her, but pushed herself forcibly forward. "I can be your friend."

"Really?"

"Really." The profiler smiled. "So do you want me to call you Jennifer?"

"JJ." The little girl corrected, sitting just a little straighter in her chair. "I'm JJ."

"You can call me Emily." She smiled, easily building a rapport. It was standard practice, she reminded herself. This was just a case.

After a few moments of gentle conversation, Emily pushed forward. "JJ, do you remember me from the other day?"

JJ looked up and nodded shyly. "Your friend fell down." JJ frowned, "I tripped her."

"You did, did you?" She forced herself to remain objective. Forcing her tone to remain light, despite the fact that with each answer this child revealed a darker and more disturbing insight into her childhood.

And even now, it appeared that these children were in hell.

But there was an investigation. This girl had stolen her wallet. No matter how adorable (or scarred) JJ was, Emily had to focus on the task at hand. "Why did you trip my friend?"

"b'cuz I needed your money or I'd get in trouble." The child explained innocently, focused on the drawing in front of her. "I don't like getting in trouble."

Faced with so many unanswered questions, she decided to continue asking about the badge and their current case. "Did you know your brother brought me back my badge?" Emily asked.

"Yeah." JJ shifted uncomfortably in the chair. "He said it wasn't a wallet like I thought and he tooked it."

"JJ, do you know what a fingerprint is?" Emily asked.

JJ shook her head, momentarily distracted from the paper in front of her as she looked up at Emily curiously.

"Can you open your hand like this?" Emily put her palm out, face up to demonstrate for the child.

JJ quickly complied.

"Now if you look real close at your thumb, what do you see?"

The girl squinted as she pulled her finger close, her eyes nearly crossing as she concentrated in an attempt to get this right. "There're little funny lines!" She explained with awe.

"Good job." Emily praised, smiling as the girl beamed with pride. "Did you know each one of your fingers has a different pattern?" She explained.

"No." JJ gasped, captivated as she compared her two thumbs closely. "Like a drawing?"

"Close." Emily agreed, "But these lines, they aren't just different on each one of your fingers. Everyone in the world has a different pattern for each finger."

"Really?" JJ looked up to her in wonder, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as she stared back at her fingers.

"Yes." Emily couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's awestruck response. "Ok, now watch this." Emily pressed her thumb tightly against the clear metal table in front of JJ for a few moments before lifting it again, her fingerprint visible to the young child. "See? So when we touch things, we leave behind the design of our fingers."

JJ studied the table carefully. "That's your finger design?" She pointed.

"Fingerprint." Emily corrected. "Yes. That's one of mine."

Emily frowned at the thought of pushing forward, but knowing this little girl may hold the key to the entire investigation made her continue asking questions. "Now JJ, when I looked at my badge, I was able to get a picture of small fingerprints that were the same as some we found somewhere else."

"Where?" JJ asked curiously.

Emily pulled out a single picture of their most recent crime scene that had been carefully selected around the little girl's age.

A child didn't need to see dead bodies.

JJ shifted guiltily, wincing before she moved again in the chair. "By the dead guy?" She asked already knowing the answer.

Emily nodded. "Did you see the man who had died?" She asked carefully.

The little girl nodded. "He was right there." She pointed to the dumpster in the picture where the victim had been found.

"JJ, I think you took this man's wallet." Emily stated. "Did you see who hurt this man?" She held up a picture of the victim's face.

"Am I in trouble?" JJ asked, her eyes wide and fearful.

"No Sweetheart." Emily couldn't help herself from comforting the child, "But I need to know if you saw who hurt the man."

JJ shook her head quickly. "Me 'n Hotch, we found him and he was dead." She shrugged, turning back to her drawing as if disinterested by the current conversation.

Emily frowned as she watched the child shift uncomfortably in the chair once more with a sickening feeling that she didn't yet fully understand the real story.

But she was going to find out.

* * *

><p>Derek Morgan had been with the FBI for many years. He had sat across from vile sadistic serial killers. He had seen disintegrated people, remnants from bombs that had claimed their lives. Suffice it to say he did not lose his temper easily anymore.<p>

But looking across from the two people in front of him, a man and a women who claimed to be parents while terrorizing their own children, well there was nothing worse than that.

"Mr. Hotchner- -" He started, only to have the woman cut him off quickly.

"Please, call him Greg." The man smiled softly, as his overbearing wife tried to take control of the interview. "I'm sorry for Jenny, she's always finding a way to get into trouble."

Morgan waved his hand dismissively, not wanting to alert either the man or the woman to the real reason he was interested in their family.

Truthfully, he doubted they would glean any more information from the two children than they already knew.

But he had a sickening feeling that he knew what dirty secrets and skeletons lay hidden in this family's closets. And despite the pressing case that had brought his team to this area, he was willing to put it all on hold for just a moment—under the guise of 'following every lead', of course.

Because even two children were worth it.

"We found your daughter's fingerprints at a crime scene. While we don't believe there is any reason for us to suspect she saw anything, we have to follow every lead." He smiled charmingly.

"We understand." Mrs. Hotchner smiled with a cocky assurance as if deluded to believe she could not be touched.

Oh how he loved his job.

Derek flung Prentiss's badge onto the table, still sealed in the evidence bag. "This was stolen and returned to one of my Agents, it had two sets of children's prints that matched those found at a recent murder."

Mrs. Hotchner barely glanced at the badge. "I've never seen that before." She replied quickly.

"You have two children, right?" Morgan asked, reading from the file despite already knowing the answer.

The man with deep sunken eyes nodded, "We had an older daughter…." He glanced over at his wife, gauging her response before continuing.

"It says here that she committed suicide." Derek frowned sympathetically. "I'm sorry for your loss."

The mother nodded slowly, "Thank you."

"And from what I see here, Jennifer has never been enrolled in school?" Morgan asked conversationally, slowly biting around the edges of the issue he really wanted to ask in an attempt to catch them off guard.

And hopefully, uncover the truth.

Shelby scoffed at the thought. "Jenny's too stupid for school. The brat can't even tie her damn shoes."

Derek raised his eyebrows in surprise.

That was not the response he had expected.

* * *

><p>He opened the door to the small conference room, hoping that it didn't seem too intimidating to the nine-year-old. "Hi, I'm David Rossi. I work with Emily at the FBI and I'd like to ask you a few questions."<p>

The boy had been apparently engrossed in studying his own clasped hands and looked up in surprise before looking down with a flush of embarrassment. The Child Advocate slipped in behind Rossi and sat down in the corner.

"Is it ok if I call you Aaron?"

The boy shook his head vigorously. "Hotch." He mumbled softly.

"Excuse me?" Dave asked, straining to hear.

"Hotch. Call me Hotch." The boy repeated, not looking up.

"Hotch. Is it ok if I come sit down next to you?" Rossi asked, wanting to give this boy as much control as possible.

The boy shrugged, but the seasoned profiler waited for a firm answer. Eventually, the boy nodded and Dave smiled despite the boy not looking up at him.

"That's a pretty big scar there." Dave observed conversationally, gesturing toward the back of Hotch's hand as he sat next to the boy who didn't seem to know how to smile. "It must have hurt."

The boy gave a non-committal shrug. "Not really." He said after a moment, rubbing the back of his hand as if remembering the pain that caused the long gash that spanned his entire hand.

"It wasn't her fault." The boy spoke up after a while, shattering the uncomfortable silence they had found themselves in.

"Oh?" Dave prodded gently biting the inside of his cheek as he felt a swell of fatherly pride for this young boy he had never met.

Aaron—Hotch—nodded. "JJ knows I don't like takin' stuff from people. So when we saw that guy back by the trash, she checked his pockets." He shrugged as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "She doesn't like takin' stuff either but we figured nobody'd miss it."

"Son, you know it's wrong to steal." The words slipped off his tongue before he could stop them.

The boy looked up at him, shuffling in his seat uncomfortably. "I _know._"

"So why do you steal?" He asked, still not entirely understanding.

Hotch shrugged again, his eyes focused on the floor as he began tracing imaginary figures on the table in front of him.

"Why did you take Agent Prentiss's badge?" Rossi tried again.

"I didn't." Hotch mumbled, his thumb rubbing the inside of his wrist gently. "JJ did."

"And you just wanted to make sure she got it back, right son?" Dave prodded.

The boy murmured something so softly, Dave couldn't have heard it if it had been whispered into his ear.

"What was that son?" He asked, leaning forward to hear more clearly.

"I'm _not_ your son." Hotch said more clearly, finally looking up at Rossi with a spark of defiance.

"I'm sorry, you're right." Dave smiled apologetically, glancing down at the boys hands to be shocked by the image in front of him. Ugly, thin lines cut across the boy's wrists as if he had been tied down to something.

Emily's 'hunch' was right.

And these kids had to be removed from their parent's custody ASAP.

Dave felt a fury explode inside himself, but forced himself to smile at the young boy. "Hotch? I'm going to talk to my friends outside for a minute, then you and me and your sister are going to go for a little drive."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **_This chapter moves pretty quickly, mostly because I wanted to just get JJ and Hotch out of there and get on with the rest of this story. As some of you may have deduced, this is more than just about Child Abuse. This story is about forming a family and really becoming that. Thanks to everybody who has reviewed so far, I am delighted that people enjoy this story. _

_This chapter hints at the extremity of the kids' abuse. I needed the abuse to be enough for them to be immediately removed from their parents' custody, and also to eliminate all ability for them to go to their next relative to further the goals of the story. For those of you who are slightly concerned that this story may get darker, rest assured it will not. This is possibly the fluffiest happiest story I've ever written. That being said, there's still got to be a little drama to spice it up._

**Warning: **Contains mentions of Child Sexual Abuse.

* * *

><p>Two hours later, Emily found herself in the hospital waiting room, lingering for any news on the condition of the kids while Dave answered a call from Morgan outside. She looked up as Dave stormed back into the waiting room, ignoring the other two women in the room.<p>

"Damn it!" Dave groaned as he slumped down into the chair beside his girlfriend, hating that he was growing familiar with the hard waiting room chairs that seemed to be standard issue in every hospital.

"What's wrong?" Emily gently folded the magazine she had been pretending to read. In reality, she couldn't keep her mind off the little boy and girl on the other side of the waiting room doors.

"The parents were released while the LEOs came up with an arrest warrant." Dave started to explain, whispering so the others would not overhear.

Emily blew out her breath in disgust, and Dave smiled sadly. If only this was the worst part.

"Detective Ross obtained a warrant for their arrest, but when they arrived at the Hotchner home, Shelby and Gregory Hotchner were found shot to death." He shook his head sorrowfully, "Reid and Morgan are at the scene, but it appears to have been an execution."

"Damn." Emily breathed out in a whisper, sighing despite the sickening feeling in her stomach, she smiled grimly. "At least they found their grandmother."

Dave cocked an eyebrow as they glanced at the woman sitting across from them in the waiting room. An elderly woman, hard, with deep set eyes that reeked of cigarette smoke and cat dander stared off into the distance.

Emily offered a small smile, hating this just as much as Dave did.

These two children deserved to be loved.

"Jennifer and Aaron Hotchner?" A kind elderly woman with bright red glasses stepped out to greet them. "I'm Doctor Laura Anderson, I have been handling JJ and Hotch's case."

"This is the children's grandmother, Ms. Jareau." The CPS Worker, who had introduced herself at the station as Erika Jones, explained as the doctor led them out of the waiting room and down the hall toward the children's room, "These are Supervisory Special Agents David Rossi and Emily Prentiss with the FBI."

The doctor nodded, "We've got both of them settled in the same room, we'd like to keep Aaron overnight for observation..." She started to explain.

"Can I see them?" The grandmother asked immediately as they stopped just outside the sight of the two children inside the hospital room. "I just—I need to see how they are doing."

"Of course." Dr. Anderson smiled apologetically, "But first—"

"No. Please. You can tell me later, I need to see them now." Ms. Jareau insisted. "Alone."

The doctor quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "Sure." She gestured to the room, "We'll be right outside."

The older woman limped out of the room, sitting down slowly into the chair next to JJ's bed.

"Seriously?" Dave shook his head, looking at Ms. Jones in disgust. "This is the best you've got?"

"She's the children's grandmother." The CPS worker shrugged, "We're running a background check right now, but if nothing comes up then she's their closest living relative."

_'Where is it?'_ The group outside heard Ms. Jareau ask the girl angrily. _'Where the hell is it Jenny?'_

Emily frowned. "She's not very nice to them." She observed.

"Mean doesn't equal abuse." Ms. Jones sighed, frowning as she observed the interaction between the old woman and the children. "Unfortunately that's the best we can do sometimes." "What can you tell us, doctor?" The CPS Worker changed the topic, sadly used to this familiar task though it never got easier.

"Honestly?" The woman shook her head sadly, "It makes me sick what people can do to their own children."

"How bad is it?" Emily cringed.

"Both children are malnourished. The little boy, Aaron, has some nasty cuts and scars along his back, arms, and stomach, confirming the initial belief that they had been physically abused."

"Is that all?" Dave asked, hoping for the kids' sake it was.

"Unfortunately, no." The doctor flipped on a switch, lightening up a box on the side of the wall that she placed two abdominal x-rays against. "The little girl, Jennifer, complained of a tummy ache and didn't want to be examined, but in a case like this we would run x-rays regardless."

"What are we looking at?" Dave asked obliviously.

"These," She pointed to several round orbs that were barely noticeable, "Appear to be balloons full of cocaine."

"No." Emily groaned, her stomach rolling.

"None of these appeared on Aaron." The doctor offered, gesturing to the other picture, "which either means that he has already passed anything in his system, or his parents only used JJ as a drug mule."

"How do you know it's cocaine?" Dave asked, the first question that could come to mind rolling off his tongue.

"Cocaine appears as the same consistency as stool, heroin looks more like air." Dr. Anderson sighed. "I need consent to remove the drugs." Turning to the CPS worker she explained sadly. "JJ's going to need immediate surgery, we can't risk one of the balloons popping and releasing that much cocaine into her system."

"I agree." Ms. Jones nodded, "We—"

She never got the chance to finish the statement, _'Damn it Jenny, where are the fucking red balloons?'_

_'They haven't come out yet.'_ The little girl whimpered with tears rolling down her face. _'I'm sorry Grandma."_

_"Sorry is not good enough."_ The older woman spat.

"Did she just say what I think she said?" Dave asked angrily, pushing his way into the door as Dr. Anderson summoned security guards for help.

"You've got to be kidding me." Ms. Jones shook her head, just as disgusted as the others as she rushed into the room and watched as Dave quickly placed the older woman under arrest. "She _knew_ about this?"

The security guards took the old grandmother out of Dave's hands, though she fought against them at every turn.

JJ cried silently on her bed, her brother sliding off his own hospital bed and climbing up alongside her. "Leave us alone." Hotch growled protectively, looking almost comical as a lanky little boy attempting to appear threatening. "We don't want you here. Leave us alone!"

"We—" Dave started, having no intention of leaving these children alone.

"Let's give them some space." Dr. Anderson stopped him, "We'll all be just outside, okay?"

The boy nodded slowly, watching carefully as the adults left the room.

"What the hell? How did you miss this?" Dave spat and turned to the CPS worker, livid that something like this could slip through their defenses. These children deserved to be protected, and they were _this close_ to throwing the kids back to hell.

"I have no way of reading people's minds, _Agent Rossi._" Ms. Jones retorted. "The background check still hasn't come back yet."

"We know." Emily interrupted, shooting Dave a dirty look.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to need to talk to my supervisor about finding these kids an emergency placement." Ms. Jones shook her head in disbelief. "It might take a while."

Dave contemplated that fact, wondering how he and Emily could try for so long to have a precious child only to have two beautiful children be so mistreated by a cruel world.

"What if we took them?" Dave asked.

"You can't be serious." Emily grinned at his exuberance, shocked that he could read her mind and voice the same thought she was wondering how to spring on him.

He mistook her response for hesitance, but that did nothing to slow the idea that was rapidly forming in his mind.

Because this felt so right.

"Look, I know we pictured having a baby, a part of us." He grabbed her hand, "And maybe that will happen."

"And maybe it won't." She pointed out, smiling as this decision was most definitely already made.

"And maybe it won't." He agreed, slipping down out of his chair he stooped down in front of her. "Em. Who could love these kids more than we would?"

"It's not like a puppy Dave, do you think we're ready for that?" She asked, voicing the concern that was niggling at the back of her mind. "It's not going to be easy."

He smiled, "Since when have we ever done what's easy?" He leaned forward. "Mia Cara, siamo in grado di fare questo." He assured her, certain of it.

They could do this, together.

"Will they even let us take them?" Emily brushed away a tear that involuntarily pooled at the corner of her eyes. "We're not married. We work a lot"

"So we ask!" He exclaimed, "Emily Prentiss, I knew I loved you years ago. This is our chance, we could be a family."

Emily fell silent, the corner of her lips turning upward. "We could be a family." She agreed.

"So that's a yes?"

"It's a yes." Her face broke into a wide grin as Dave's lips crashed against her own. She pulled away, laughing. "Let's have a family."

.oOo.

Ms. Jones simply blinked at them in response. "You want to do what?" She asked again, floored.

"We want to take Hotch and JJ." Dave glanced back, feeling a pang of worry that maybe he hadn't been clear. At Emily's gentle nod of assurance, he continued. "What else are you going to do? Ship them off to a foster home?"

The CPS Worker recovered slightly, still stunned by the couple's offer. "Well that was the general plan."

"And they don't have any closer relatives, right? No one to take them in?" Emily pointed out.

"Well no. Agents, can I tell you how incredibly rare this is?" Ms. Jones ran her hand through her hair still trying to comprehend. "Are you sure you understand what you're offering here?" She asked doubtfully.

"Yes." Dave's face broke into a wide grin. "We're offering both of them the chance to be loved, the chance to be a part of a family."

"Hotch and JJ aren't your average kids." Ms. Jones insisted, certain that these law enforcement agents were simply caught up in the emotional toll of watching children be put into the system. "They'll require therapy."

"We understand." Emily agreed. "We want these kids. We want Hotch and JJ. Money isn't an option."

"This isn't about money." Ms. Jones shook her head quickly. "Yeah, therapy is expensive, but it's so much more than that. They'll need emotional support. They'll need someone to take the time to care about them…it's a huge investment. You have to be parents to children who have never had parents. You have to be parents to children where the people who put them through hell called themselves Mom and Dad."

Dave nodded immediately. "We can do that. We _want _to do that."

"I'm not talking just a once a week appointment to chat about how their week has been." Ms. Jones insisted. "I'm talking about _daily_ struggles. These kids have seen more pain and suffering than some adults see in a lifetime. They've experienced horrors that no children should ever even dream of. They're going to need constant support and specialized therapy."

"Support we are able and willing to give." Rossi insisted, then catching her last phrase he stopped. "Specialized therapy?"

The CPS Worker snorted, unable to help herself. She'd seen it so many times before. People who claimed to have all the answers or a magic wand to wave over the awful situation to make it all better.

But in the end, most of the kids 'rescued' by these heroes ended up getting thrown back to the streets.

And that hurt more than any foster placement.

"You realize these kids have been abused, right?" Ms. Jones asked, flinging the painful truth at the couple.

If they couldn't handle it now, they didn't deserve these children.

"I know." Rossi murmured sadly as he glanced back at the hospital doors that kept him separated from where the kids were being treated.

"Not just slapped on the wrist. Both JJ and Hotch have been _beaten._ Broken bones, long scars—they've got it all." Ms. Jones continued, "There's evidence that JJ has been sexually abused, so _yes_." She shook her head in disgust, "Specialized therapy just scratches the _surface_ of what these kids will require."

Dave's jaw clenched furiously, but otherwise remained silent.

"Both kids haven't eaten properly in years." She pushed forward, insistent, "Judging by their reactions in the small time I've met with them, they've been belittled and criticized regularly at home." Shaking her head, she added, "It's not going to be easy."

Dave and Emily fell silent as Dave reached absently for Emily's hand in support. Smiling briefly at the comfort their clasped hands provided, Dave took a deep breath before squaring his shoulders firmly. "We want these kids."

It was the CPS Worker's turn to fall silent, impressed by the quiet devotion both adults expressed with regards to the welfare of the children. Her lips tugged up at the corners. "Let me talk to my supervisor, I'll see if we can push everything through." She stepped back, still not entirely believing that this could be happening for these kiddos.

They may have just gotten the best break of all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **_Enjoy. _

* * *

><p>In the end, the greatest ally Emily and Dave needed in order to obtain custody was not anyone affiliated with Child Protective Services.<p>

It was Derek Morgan.

The Unit Chief had dashed to the hospital, and after being assured that both Emily and Dave were certain of the future step for their family, Morgan had whisked out forms that not even Rossi had thought to prepare.

Documents alerting the state-run agency that Aaron and Jennifer Hotchner were to be placed in protective custody, under the care of Supervisory Special Agents David Rossi and Emily Prentiss until CPS could do the necessary interviews to allow the couple to adopt.

And just like that, David Rossi and Emily Prentiss were the parents of two school-aged children.

Hotch was released from the hospital the next morning with a simple antibiotic ointment for the cuts on his back. He was cautious of both Dave and Emily, and barely spoke to the adults unless absolutely necessary.

JJ was admitted for a little longer since the doctors were hesitant to release the bubbling seven year old until they were certain there was only a minimal chance of infection. As it was, even in the hospital JJ had managed to rip open her stitches three times.

Though she refused to talk if Dave was in the room, both Dave and Emily had learned a lot about the children. They deeply cared for each other. Hotch was anxious whenever JJ wasn't around. JJ got scared without Hotch nearby. Hotch was smart, cool, suspicious, and calculating as he weighed the risks of any decision. JJ was precocious, impulsive, always wondering how everything worked, and generally weaving her way into the hearts of everyone that met her.

And now, one week later, both children sat in uneasy silence as they drove up to their new home. JJ kicked her legs repeatedly in the new booster seat, and it was evident that neither child was familiar with driving in a car.

Dave glanced over at Emily, grabbing her hand in need of soft reassurance. "Alright guys, this is the road up to our house." He turned up the small private driveway, cringing as he wondered if it would be better for the kids to grow up in some Stepford suburbia than a modern cabin nestled deep in the woods.

As Dave slowly weaved the long path up to their home, Emily felt her own stomach fill with butterflies.

Was she really ready for this? She couldn't help but allow the question that others had asked multiple times to question what her heart already knew.

She wanted this. After that, nothing else mattered.

Pulling up in front of their large home, Dave announced with false bravado, "We're here."

He smirked as he saw the cars of the rest of the team, grateful for the support of their friends as Emily stepped out of the car to help Hotch and JJ out.

JJ gazed up at the large two-story cabin in wonder, the lit wrap-around porch looking like something from a magazine. She tugged gently on Hotch's shirt, whispering something into her brother's ear.

"Is this a hotel?" Hotch parroted the question he had been wondering as well.

Dave chuckled, frowning as he noticed the little girl avoid him carefully.

Emily too noticed JJ's response and smiled reassuringly. "No. This is where Dave and I live. This is your new home." She reminded them gently.

Pushing the door open, both adults grinned at the banner and balloons surrounding the rest of the team. "Welcome Home." Morgan, Reid, and Garcia called in unison.

The kids slipped in the door behind Dave, JJ inching as far away from the seasoned profiler as she could get.

"Oh aren't you two adorable!" Garcia squealed excitedly at the two little kids, stepping forward to pull Hotch and JJ into a warm hug before being stopped quickly by Emily's firm hand.

"They need a little time." She murmured softly.

"Oh." Penelope stopped, shifting inelegantly as she glanced back at Derek uncertainly.

"JJ, Hotch. These are our friends." Dave introduced awkwardly, not sure if the kids remembered meeting the others at the hospital. "Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, and Penelope Garcia."

"We know." Hotch rolled his eyes petulantly, looking older than his nine years.

"Sorry." Dave ran a hand through his hair, wondering just when this was going to get easier.

Penelope giggled at the irony of a world-renown profiler put in his place by a nine-year-old boy. "David Rossi…are you scared?" She teased, a glint of mischievousness delight in her eyes.

"No." Dave responded immediately, bristling at the suggestion.

"Right." Morgan scoffed skeptically.

Easily picking up on the awkwardness of the situation, Spencer took pity on his former boss. "We got that done." Reid spoke up, vaguely assuring Dave that everything was ready.

Emily turned back, cocking her head curiously at her boyfriend.

He smiled, grinning broadly as he gestured upstairs. "Hotch, JJ. We all have a surprise for you." The kids reluctantly followed the adults up the large wooden staircase. Turning quickly to the left, he gestured for one of the kids to open the door to what had formerly been Emily's office. "This is your room Hotch."

Slowly, and watching Dave and Emily both with a cautious eye, Hotch pushed the door to the room open, looking around with wide eyes at the room that was at least double the size of his room back home. The walls were painted a pale blue with black baseboards and window trim. A large full sized bed with black a black headboard and footboard and dark blue sheets with a thick red blanket sat atop a black and white checkered rug. Airplanes hung from the ceiling, dangling at various heights that made the entire room appear like it had been cut straight out of a magazine. The boy's eyes couldn't take in all of the details in the room, not noticing the large bookshelf filled with books, nor the guitar nestled in the corner.

"This is where I'm supposed to sleep?" Hotch asked uncertainly, not bothering to marvel at the stuff he had never seen before.

It wouldn't be his anyway.

"This is your room." Emily explained, crouching down to meet the child's eyelevel, glancing over at her friends with a swell of appreciation for their efforts. "All of this is yours."

Hotch blinked, still seemingly not understanding.

"What about JJ?" He asked skeptically.

"JJ has her own room right across the hall." Dave motioned to the closed door just outside that had once been his study. "Would you like to see it JJ?" He asked.

The little girl hesitated, hanging onto Hotch as she allowed her brother to make the decision for her. After a minute, Hotch nodded glancing over at his sister reassuringly.

They stepped into the hall, allowing Hotch once more to push the door open to the other room. JJ's room was likewise decorated to the nines, her bedroom covered in light purple walls with white trim while large yellow and white butterflies were sketched along the walls. A large full sized bed, this time with white headboards and footboards and soft lilac sheets, sat atop a large fuzzy yellow rug that covered the wood floors.

"These are your rooms. I hope you like them." Dave beamed proudly. "We also got you some new clothes for the next couple of days, but we'll still have to go shopping to get something you like."

JJ gingerly touched the white trim awestruck by the simple beauty.

"I got you something else, JJ." Penelope smirked softly, stepping out from the others. Handing out a soft plush brown teddy bear with large black eyes toward the child, her smirk grew to a large grin, "I thought you might like it."

Looking to Hotch for reassurance, JJ hesitated, uncertain what to do next. Gently, he took the bear from Penelope's hands, handing it over to his sister. "It's okay Jayje." He coaxed.

At her brother's encouragement, JJ slowly took the bear, hugging it tightly as the soft stuffing molded gently against her.

"What are you going to name it Sweetie?" Emily prodded softly.

JJ smiled as she looked down at the bear, whispering softly to Hotch as she traced the eyes of her newfound friend.

"She's namin' him Henry the Bear." Hotch announced, stifling a yawn as he rubbed at his eyes tiredly. Behind him, JJ rubbed at the small scabbing scar on her tummy, her body beginning to acknowledge the throbbing dull pain from her surgery.

"I think it's about time for bed." Dave announced, easily catching the tells of both children.

"We'll go." Garcia excused the others, ready to give the new family a moment alone. "Goodnight JJ, Goodnight Hotch." She practically pushed Derek out of the room with Reid following close behind.

Initially, Dave had planned to let the two kids share a room until they were comfortable, but seeing that Hotch was nearly asleep on his feet—and JJ wasn't too far behind—he guided the boy back to his new room and showed him where his pajamas were. Giving the boy some privacy to change, Dave returned to find Hotch already curled up in his new bed.

Pulling the covers up over the child, Dave smiled as Hotch barely stirred. Dave moved to shut the door behind him, "Leave the door open." Hotch mumbled softly, on the verge of sleep.

Complying, Dave turned off the lights. "Goodnight Hotch."

The boy murmured something incoherently in reply.

He paused outside JJ's door, feeling love grow within him at the sight of the woman he loved tucking the little girl into bed. He had thought it wasn't possible to love Emily Prentiss more.

Yet the sight of her with the seven year old in light pink pajamas proved his earlier thought wrong.

Emily Prentiss had been his entire world. But now his world had grown bigger.

.oOo.

Later that night, JJ knocked softly on the door of her brother's new room, whispering nervously as she tried to keep herself from crying. "Hotch?" Her voice trembled as she waited, trying to be brave.

"Yeah?" Her brother's sleepy answer was like a band-aid over her scared nerves.

"I—" She sniffled, finally able to let the tears fall down her small cheeks as she sucked on her two fingers. "I had a acc-acc'dent." She stuttered.

Hotch was up in an instant, "It's okay JJ." He soothed, use to the way his sister's words often became less understandable when she was nervous or scared. "Come on." He instructed, leading her over to the small dresser that was filled with new clothing. After opening a couple of drawers and rummaging around, he pulled out a new pair of underwear and some new pajamas for her. "Go get changed and I'll clean it up."

She sniffed, accepting the clothes quietly. "I'm sorry Hotch."

"Hey, JJ. It's okay." He assured her, waiting until he was sure she had shut the door to the bathroom to begin cleaning up. Swiftly pulling the sheets off the bed he frowned as he realized Emily and Dave hadn't shown him where the washer was.

Moments later, Dave was roused by soft pattering and voices coming from downstairs. Groaning, and not wanting to wake Emily, he forced himself out of bed.

Not bothering to turn on the lights, he followed the soft sound of voices and the light coming from his laundry room.

"What are you kids doing up?" Dave blinked, wiping at his eyes with one hand as he pushed down what he was sure was his hair standing straight up with the other.

The pair glanced at one another, and Hotch stepped forward, "I had an accident and we were just putting in a wash." He lied. He didn't know how Mr. Rossi would react, and the last thing he wanted was to get JJ in trouble.

Again.

Because she couldn't help it.

Dave quirked his eyebrow, clearly aware that the boy was lying. One glance at the little girl confirmed the theory, as JJ was now wearing a dark purple nightgown, different than the pajamas she had worn to bed, and was sucking on her two fingers nervously.

It wasn't unusual for seven year olds to occasionally wet the bed.

It also was a common sign for children who were victims of sexual abuse to wet the bed.

And even at 2:45 in the morning with his brain still not working properly from lack of sleep, that thought made him slightly sick.

JJ shifted nervously behind her brother, as if waiting for the entire world to crash down around them.

What bastards put their children through this?

"Well—" He cleared his throat that was still groggy from sleep. "Accidents happen." He murmured, painfully aware of how terrified the little girl was of his very presence. Part of him desperately wanted to wake up Emily and have her handle this, and the other part of him longed to prove that he indeed could be a good father. "How about you kids sit down on the couch and I'll finish up here?" He suggested.

Hotch and JJ looked at one another uncertainly, as if wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. Reluctantly, the two children scuffled out of the laundry room. Peeking into the washing machine, he smirked at the purple sheets and pink pajamas inside as he wondered how exactly Aaron was going to explain 'his accident' with his sister's clothes and sheets.

Starting the wash, he hesitated in the kitchen as he contemplated what snack might soothe the kids' nerves. Though his mind instantly went to milk and cookies, JJ's earlier episode showed that beverages probably weren't a good idea if they were going back to sleep anytime soon. And he was fairly certain if he hopped the kids up on sugar where they couldn't go back to sleep, he'd be regretting the day he was born.

Settling on a box of cereal, he sat on the big recliner across from the couch, just far enough away not to startle them, but close enough to allow him to be a comforting presence this late at night.

It was obvious that Hotch wasn't going to leave JJ alone.

And it was too soon to assert any sort of parental authority.

So instead, he would calm their fears, make them feel comfortable. And hope like hell that trust would come in time.

"Sometimes, when I have a nightmare and don't want to go back to sleep," He started conversationally, speaking easily as if it wasn't the middle of the night and the two children in front of him weren't sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for him to lose his temper, "I like to come and sit out here and eat cereal."

"You have nightmares?" JJ asked suddenly, speaking for the first time in his presence.

"I have nightmares a lot." Dave admitted, offering the box of Rice Chex to the seven year old. "Sometimes they are really scary so I don't want to go back to sleep."

JJ scooped up a large handful of cereal, popping most of it into her mouth as she spoke at the same time, "I have nightmares too."

"I bet they're really scary." Dave observed, offering the box of cereal to Hotch whose eyes drooped sleepily.

The little girl fell silent as she munched slowly on the grainy cereal.

They sat there for a few seconds, neither the children nor the profiler willing to break the comfortable early morning silence.

"Mr. Rossi?" JJ asked finally, rubbing her eyes as she leaned in toward her brother for comfort. "Will you tell us a story?"

"I would love to JJ." He smiled, "But only if you'll call me Dave."

"Okay Mr. Dave." She murmured tiredly.

He smiled, "Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who lived in a magic…"

"Magic doesn't exist." JJ protested, sighing as she pulled herself closer to her brother, not realizing that Hotch was nearly asleep himself. "It's fake, right Hotch?"

The boy grunted slightly in response.

"I'm so sorry." Rossi amended quickly. "Once there was a nice girl and a boy who had seen very sad things happen." He smiled as the little girl smirked and nodded her approval. "They were smart and good and kind, but sometimes bad things happen."

"Like a dragon?" JJ asked softly.

Dave snorted at the irony that the child didn't believe in magic, but was perfectly accepting of dragons. "Yes, like a mean tall big dragon."

JJ nodded, her eyes closing briefly as her fingers found their way into her mouth.

"But then one day they went to live with a couple who had always wanted children." Dave smiled at the two children, both on the verge of sleep.

"And they were safe?" JJ mumbled under her breath.

"Yes." Dave nodded, "They were safe and the nice man and the beautiful kind lady wouldn't let anything bad happen to them."

Neither child responded and he waited for a moment, ensuring that they had both indeed fallen asleep. He couldn't keep the grin off his face as he quickly stood and grabbed two large soft blankets and draped one over both children, tucking them in slightly to make sure they were warm.

Settling back down into his armchair, he pulled the other blanket over him, unable to wipe away the thought that he had maybe just made things a little better.

He wondered if this is what it felt like to be a father.

Because he couldn't imagine anything better.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **_As many of you will have surmised, this story is much more than just about JJ and Hotch as little kids. This is about four individuals forming a family. Due to that, I have tried to keep some of JJ and Hotch's character traits, though obviously since they are only children that can only go so far. Emily and Dave aren't going to be the perfect parents, JJ and Hotch aren't going to be the perfect kids...but that's what makes for a story._

_Thanks to youdude for the special shout-out in her story._

_Fun factoid: I spent almost two days trying to figure out how to explain tying my shoes. I swear I learned some sort of rhyme about a bunny a tree and a log which I could never do until I did it the other way. But after asking almost everyone I know, I had to settle for my own memory. I hope you all appreciate that effort. :)_

* * *

><p>Dave awoke the next morning to the smell of eggs and bacon filling the room. Cringing as he cracked his neck, stiff from sleeping on his old armchair, he felt a small smile tug at the corner of his lips at the sight of the two kids still sleeping across from him on the couch.<p>

Spying an already showered Emily Prentiss slaving over the stove, he stopped for a moment as he looked over her admiringly. Stepping quietly behind her, he place his lips against the soft ivory skin of her neck.

"Mmm." She smirked, craning her neck to give him better access. "Good morning to you too."

"I don't think there's anything sexier than a fine woman and the smell of bacon in the morning." He replied, his voice still thick and scratchy from sleep as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him.

Emily snorted. "Don't I know it. Your libido is practically tied to your stomach."

He grinned, "Guilty." He murmured, nibbling gently as he felt her shiver underneath him.

"Stop it." She swatted him away, disentangling herself out of his arms and holding up the spatula in her hands as a barrier. "You're going to make me burn breakfast."

"Pancakes too?" He asked in surprise, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Emily shrugged, a small blush creeping up her cheeks. "I wasn't sure what they'd like."

Holding up the bag of chocolate chips, he simply quirked an eyebrow in reply.

She snatched the bag out of his hands. "It's not for me, it's for the _pancakes. _Kids like chocolate." She retorted, her blush deepening. Changing the subject, she nodded her head toward the still sleeping children. "Late night?"

He tried to stifle the proud smile that came from remembering the night before. "I heard them up at about three. Someone had an accident."

Emily frowned. "I saw the sheets." She murmured, glancing at JJ with a pang of sadness. "You could have woken me."

This time it was Dave's turn to shrug. "I wanted to let you sleep." He added, both of them knowing there was more to it than that.

It had only been a month ago that she had lost their child, she was still recovering.

And no matter how much she insisted she was okay, Dave was well aware that the scabs over this painful chapter of their lives were still fresh.

"I'm okay Dave." She reminded him, turning back to the multiple frying pans in front of her.

"I know." He murmured, a flash of color catching his eye. Turning around, he noticed Hotch and JJ both watching them closely. "Hey guys, Good Morning."

JJ wiped at her eyes sleepily while Hotch simply watched them cautiously.

"Alright," Emily smiled brightly, hiding the butterflies in her stomach as she batted at her hair absently. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Hotch shrugged, eyeing the massive amounts of food piled behind the two adults closely while JJ stared at her blankly as if the child didn't understand the question.

Frowning, Emily glanced at Dave before smiling easily at the two kids. "Go wash your hands and then come sit up at the table." She instructed. "I made bacon, eggs, chocolate chip pancakes, regular pancakes—" She trailed off, sheepishly admitting that she had made enough food to feed an entire division of the FBI.

The kids disappeared for a moment and then slipped up to the breakfast table without much coaxing. "Hotch, what would you like?"

He eyed her closely, as if ready for this all to be some elaborate joke. After a moment, he offered slowly, "A pancake?" He asked, the accompanying look in his eyes daring Emily to prove him right and withdraw the offer.

"Chocolate Chip or Plain?" Dave asked, both plates full of pancakes sitting right in front of him.

Again, Hotch watched the two adults for any sign of deception. "Plain." He murmured, desperately wanting the chocolate but knowing that all of this was too good to be true.

It always was.

Dave helped Hotch place a large pancake on the boy's plate. "JJ?" Emily asked, turning to the youngest at the table. "What would you like?"

JJ glanced to Hotch with uncertainty. Hotch leaned over and in a hushed whisper that both adults easily overheard, explained. "I had these at school once, they taste like bread."

Emily bit her lip, pained at the thought of what these children had experienced in their life. Nodding, she extended a plate toward JJ who slid one off the large stack.

"And eggs?" Hotch asked, confused as Dave handed him the plate.

Emily ignored the questions that rose in the back of her mind, forcing herself to focus on the children in front of her rather than the awful situations her mind could imagine. "You can both have whatever you want." She promised, then realizing that given the opportunity she herself would eat cold pizza and a bag of crispy mint MnMs for breakfast, she added, "Within reason."

Dave looked over at the two kids apprehensively, searching his mind for any idea of what to talk about. He noticed JJ watching Hotch closely, emulating his posture and stance almost comically.

"I have a friend who is the principal at Turner-Walker Academy." Emily said conversationally, smiling as she saw her boyfriend's eyebrows raise with pleasant surprise. There was still so much to decide and discuss, but she was glad that it seemed as if Dave too had done the research into the best schools in the area. "If you both feel comfortable going to school, I could talk to her about starting soon."

"I think that's a great idea." Dave spoke up excitedly, looking at the two kids with nervous anticipation. "What do you guys think?"

JJ looked to Hotch, slowly munching on her pancake as she waited for him to make the decision. Hotch surveyed the two adults slowly before shrugging as if it didn't matter. "Whatever." He said, not willing to show any sign of excitement.

Because excitement meant that it mattered. And he knew just as well as anybody what happened when adults found out what mattered.

They took it away.

.oOo.

Once the kids had finished breakfast and got ready, Emily and Dave took them shopping, desperately hoping to put them at ease by allowing them to buy the things they liked.

The problem was, neither child had any idea what they liked.

After hours of shopping for clothes, shoes, and everything in between, the seasoned profilers were exhausted.

Yet there was still so much to do.

Emily and Dave wordlessly split up, Emily staying with JJ to help the seven year old select practical and appropriate clothing in the massive store.

As they stepped out of the dressing room, however, a small wad sticking out of JJ's back pocket caught her eye. "JJ, what's that?" She pointed, not wanting to startle the child, but having a sickening pit in her stomach that she wasn't going to like the answer.

JJ froze and slowly turned around, looking at Emily with wide eyes as she slowly reached into her pocket and held out a fist-full of cash.

Emily groaned, slowly checking the money as she pinched her nose in an attempt to keep the impending headache at bay.

She should have known better, Emily rolled her eyes, mentally berating herself. When JJ asked her why people would just leave money out on the table of the restaurant at lunch, she should have understood. After all, her first interaction with the child involved JJ swiping Garcia's wallet and stealing Emily's own badge from her inside jacket pocket.

So really, it shouldn't have surprised her to find $34 sticking out of JJ's pockets. But the fact that she had been able to swipe _that much _money off the tables with two trained FBI Agents beside her was almost commendable.

JJ watched her nervously, unsure of what Emily's reaction meant.

"Would'a been more if that lady hadn't been watchin' us." JJ mumbled, watching Emily closely.

Any hesitation Emily held was swept away by the little girl's comment. Emily crouched down to JJ's level, embracing the child in a warm hug. JJ stiffened uncomfortably for a second before melding into Emily's arms.

Over the top of JJ's head, she saw Dave and Hotch approaching apparently having finished in the fitting room. Allowing JJ to pull away, she looked the seven year old clearly in the eyes, "JJ, I care about you." She looked at the child calculatingly, hoping that she understood. "And no matter what you or Hotch do, neither of us are ever going to hurt you."

JJ looked at Emily blankly, but the adult pressed on, glancing over at Hotch to ensure that he was listening with rapt attention. "But JJ, we are going to have some rules in this family, and the first one is that we don't steal. Ever."

Dave, not entirely understanding but following Emily's lead crouched down. "Guys, we need to be honest with one another. It might be hard at first, but like Emily said, we are a family."

JJ looked at her brother uncertainly waiting for his agreement or defiance.

"We're _not_ a family." Hotch folded his arms, glaring at Emily with a fierceness she hadn't encountered as he stepped between Emily and JJ.

Easily picking up that she had somehow touched a nerve, Emily backed up slightly. "You are right." She assured softly, "We aren't a traditional family, but—" She thought around desperately for the right words, hating that her mind was drawing a blank.

Thankfully, Dave's voice saved her. "But a family, a _real_ family is a group of people that care about each other. That take care of each other. Emily and I want you to be a part of our family because we care about you and don't want to have anything bad happen to you."

Hotch surveyed Emily closely, watching her for any sign of deception. Finally, he shrugged and looked back to JJ who looked at him with absolute trust, "Stealing is bad."

.oOo.

"Guys, I'm so sorry." Dave said again as he looked back at the little troupe that followed him onto the sixth floor. "I'll just be a minute—"

"It's fine." Emily waved off his uneasiness, offering a gentle squeeze to his arm as he left them. "Now you guys can see where Dave and I work." She looked down at the kids excitedly. "That sounds like fun, right?"

"Agent Prentiss." Strauss strode purposefully into the bullpen, ignoring the two children who eyed her closely as she came up behind Emily. "Counter-terrorism needs you to do a quick translation of some chatter in Arabic."

"Today is my day off, Ma'am." Emily replied, gesturing to the two children in a silent explanation. "We just came so Dave could sign off on some reports."

Strauss bristled, detesting the relationship that had developed between two agents under her command. Though she had tried her best, she hadn't been able to reassign either one of them and it grated on her terribly. "No harm in actually working when you are at work, is there?" She asked snidely. "Besides, Agent Rossi is being pulled into a meeting with the director, so he will be at least twenty minutes."

Emily frowned, not wanting to provoke the section chief further. Thankfully, Garcia was filing something nearby and she waved her friend over, "Can you watch them while I head up to CT?"

Penelope squealed, delighted. "Absolutely!"

Minutes later, she seemed to have disarmed Hotch with a graphic novel from the bottom of her Emergency Drawer in Derek's desk and was focused with JJ on tying her shoes.

She had read the reports—seen the interviews—and if there was anything she could do to let this adorable child gain more self-confidence then Penelope Garcia would move hell and high water to make that happen.

But the art of tying shoes was proving more difficult than she thought.

"Jayje, honey, just remember: make a bunny ear and the bunny wants to go around the tree and through the hole and pull it tight." Penelope coached encouragingly while JJ bit down on her tongue in concentration.

Her fingers tripped on themselves, sabotaging her attempt.

"I can't do it!" She threw up her hands in frustration. "I'm too stupid!"

"Oh Sweetheart, no you aren't." Garcia soothed, loving this seven year old more than even she thought possible, "We just need to practice."

Reid bit his lip, fighting the nagging urge to step in. Eventually, the desire to see the child succeed trumped his hesitancy. "JJ, have you ever seen _magic_?"

JJ looked at him like he had grown another head, her eyebrow quirked skeptically. "Magic doesn't exist." She said softly.

He smiled, pulling out a coin. "Then what do you call this?" He asked, with a wave of his hand making the coin 'disappear'.

"You palmed it." JJ rolled her eyes, unimpressed.

"No he didn't," Garcia shook her head, "He made it disappear."

Just like that, Reid waved his hand once more, allowing the coin to roll over his fingers.

"Anybody can do that." The child shrugged.

"Really?" Reid asked, slightly impressed.

JJ nodded, reaching into her pocket to retrieve a cell phone. "Coins are for babies."

Penelope snorted, picking up the offered phone and looking at it in surprise. "Where'd you get this?"

"The mean lady." JJ shrugged, frowning as she looked back down at her untied shoes. "She made Miss Emily go away." She explained easily then looked up as if suddenly struck with fear. "I didn't steal it, I just took it."

Garcia laughed, gently putting the phone in her own pocket with somewhat nefarious plans. "It's okay, I'll make sure the mean lady gets that back." Giving the girl a light hug, she cleared her throat. "Now let's try again."

"I can't do this!" JJ cried, frustration evident in her voice.

Hotch looked up from the book in front of him, ready to step in if anyone posed a threat to his sister.

Spencer cleared his throat, for some reason able to find insightful words based on something other than statistics. "JJ, did you know that when I show some people this trick, they think it is magic?" The thought of a child—any child feeling vulnerable and incapable…it was something that the child prodigy could relate to.

"Really?" JJ scoffed.

"Everyone has a different way of looking at it." He explained. "To some people, they just know what they see, but for you and me we know that the coin just goes somewhere else."

"Like into our pocket." JJ surmised.

Penelope giggled but Reid stayed focused. "JJ, sometimes we just have to look at things a different way."

She frowned.

"Try this." He pulled up his own shoe and rested it on Emily's desk to give the child a better view. Untangling the knot, he slowly demonstrated. "Take your two strings and tie them together." He instructed, pleased to watch her following along. "Now try to make two loops, cross them, fold the first loop underneath," He coached, watching proudly as JJ followed his instructions easily, "And pull it tight."

Her face broke out in a wide grin. "I did it!" She exclaimed, quickly turning to her other shoe and methodically repeating the process. "I did it!"

"Yay!" Penelope cheered excitedly, punching Reid playfully as the boy genius yet again saved the day.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **_Glad to see other people like this story. _

* * *

><p>A few days later, Emily grabbed Dave's hand as they trekked through the halls of the prestigious elementary school, both of them dreading the conversation that was coming up.<p>

Emily's friend- -the school principal- -had called asking for a private meeting with the two profilers.

And naturally, they had both dropped everything to show up twenty minutes later.

Dave glanced over to Emily, frowning as he noticed her biting her lip worriedly. "It'll be fine." He assured.

"I know." She sighed, placing her hand against the door, "But she was just so excited for her first day."

Dave chewed the inside of his lip thoughtfully, remembering the bounding excitement of the child from this morning. "I know, but really, how bad can it be?"

Pushing through the doors to the Administration Office, Dave felt a familiar surge of dread as they were quickly directed toward the Principal's Office.

This wasn't looking good.

"Mr. Rossi, Emily. Good to see you." A professional looking woman smiled as she greeted them, ushering them inside her office. JJ sat in a chair between two others, her head down as her feet swung nervously. "Please, have a seat."

"Please, call me Dave." The older profiler shook the Principal Brown's hand warmly, well aware that this woman was a friend of Emily's.

"Anna, what is this about?" Emily asked, taking the seat furthest from the door while Dave sat down next to JJ.

"JJ, would you like to tell Emily and Dave what happened?" Anna offered a comforting smile toward the child, prodding her gently.

JJ shook her head, keeping her head down as she sucked on her index and middle finger.

Dave rubbed his forehead tiredly. "I'm sorry Principal Brown—"

"Anna" She corrected, sharing a small smile with Emily as Dave continued.

"Sorry, Anna, but today's her _first day. _Can't you just wait and see how it works out? What could be so bad to haul us in on the first day?" He glanced over at JJ, painfully aware that she knew she was about to get in trouble. She had already been through enough and he wondered when she was going to catch a break.

"Stealing the lunch money from nearly every child in her class." Anna nodded, grimacing at the severity of the situation. Both Emily and Dave cringed and Principal Brown continued, "Since you briefed me vaguely on the situation, I thought you'd like to be aware."

"Yes, thank you." Dave nodded seriously, smiling down at JJ though she still refused to look up.

Things would be okay.

She just needed time.

"JJ, would you mind waiting for us outside?" Principal Brown smiled, pushing the intercom to alert the Secretary. "Bonnie, JJ is going to come out and sit with you while I talk to Dave and Emily."

JJ stood, quickly exiting without a moment's hesitation.

"Look, I'm just going to be frank." Anna shook her head sadly at her friend. "I've seen a lot of JJ's behaviors before."

"So they're common?" Dave asked, feeling slightly relieved.

"No." She cringed, wondering how she could have said it better, "Well yes. They're not common here. I did, however, see them all the time when I worked at an inner city elementary."

"What are you saying?" Emily wondered aloud.

"I'm saying that if you take JJ to a large under-funded public school, some poor overworked counselor would probably say she had ADD, diagnose her with a learning disability, and send her on her way. With a pocket full of prescription medication and an occasional progress test, she'd be shuffled to the back of the classroom." Anna sighed, "Not to diminish public schools. There are great educators out there." She amended, "It's just…"

"What _aren't_ you saying?" Dave prodded further.

"JJ's having problems. It's nothing we can't handle here, but a lot of the signs she's exhibiting were shared by students I had who were both sexually and emotionally abused."

Emily felt tears spring to her eyes as her long-term friend had almost instantly deduced some of JJ's issues. Dave rubbed his temples as if he could massage away the truth. Dave's hand found Emily's, their fingers intertwined as they braced themselves to face reality.

It was one thing to be painfully aware of what JJ had been forced to endure.

It was quite another to have a distant friend unknowingly force them to face the sting of having old wounds reopened.

"What can we do?" Dave asked.

Anna smiled sadly at Dave's immediate attempt to fix the situation. "I assume you're already taking her to a counselor?" She sighed with relief as both FBI Agents nodded. "You know what I've seen work the best?" She asked rhetorically, "Get JJ outside. Get her involved in activities where she can run off all the energy and emotion she's got bottled up inside. And the most important, let her be the focus of your attention."

"The focus of our attention? What is that supposed to mean?" Dave bristled, "Of course we're paying attention to her. We are _adopting _her."

"Dave, she didn't mean it like that, did you Anna?" Emily shot her friend a look that conveyed how close she was to becoming a _former_ friend.

"No." Anna smiled apologetically. "All I meant was that JJ needs to feel important. I would assume, though I haven't heard many negative reports from her brother's teacher, that he is the same way. She—"

"Wait. Many?" Emily interrupted, pouncing on her friend's slip of the tongue with her eyebrows shooting up in concern. "You haven't had _many_ negative reports?"

Principal Brown grimaced at the poor choice of words. "It appears Aaron is having a difficult—though not as dramatic—time adjusting, just like his sister. But we're handling it." She assured. Dave and Emily groaned but stayed silent, prompting Anna to continue. "Like I was saying, if you can attend her sporting events, or take her out to ice cream. Let her feel special, anything like that would be a great help to her. Do the same for Aaron."

"What are the negative reports you heard about Hotch?" Dave pressed, unwilling to let the issue slide.

Principal Brown sighed, "He seems to be having trouble with authority. Granted," She smirked at Dave, "it is his _first day_, so we decided to see how it will work out." She threw his prior words back at him, softening them with an understanding smile.

Being a parent was hard.

Emily and Dave were being thrown into this some-what late in the game.

"Can we take her home?" Emily asked, honestly not wanting to subject JJ to any more torture for the day.

"That'd probably be for the best." Anna smiled. "We can try again tomorrow."

* * *

><p>A little over a week later, Dave grimaced as he held his ribs gingerly, protecting the newly fractured bones as JJ rambled off about something he had already lost interest in.<p>

It was astounding, really, how quickly JJ had warmed up to him and Emily.

As JJ chattered excitedly, he caught Emily's worried frown over the heads of the children and looked away, pretending he hadn't noticed her concern.

Sometimes, he wondered if he was getting too old for this.

"JJ, have you done your homework?" He asked suddenly, interrupting the little girl.

JJ nodded proudly. "I did my math." She grinned. "And so then—" She went to continue the story of second-grade drama.

"And your teacher said you have to read a story to us every night." Dave reminded her, "Where's your story?"

JJ squirmed slightly before offering Dave a lopsided grin. "I had it in my backpack and then I saw this sparkly pink elephant on Sarah Miner's backpack, and I asked her where she got it and—"

"JJ, where's the damn story?" He asked impatiently, the pain from his ribs and the long case wearing on his nerves.

JJ froze, too terrified to move lest she make Mr. Rossi any more angry.

"Iforgotit." She murmured eventually, her face crumpling as she felt a warm wetness surround her.

Glancing down at the child, Dave rolled his eyes, blowing out his breath in pained annoyance as he stood from the breakfast table where the kids' stuff had been strewn. "I don't have time for this." He growled, cringing as he gently sat back down onto the soft microfiber couch.

He heard Emily's hushed soothing whispers ordering both children upstairs before all three trekked up the stairs to the children's bedrooms. He heard Emily start a bath for JJ and relaxed in the momentary quiet he knew wouldn't last for long. About ten minutes later, he didn't bother looking up as Emily slowly descended the stairs.

"So are you done acting like an ass or should I pretend not to notice the broken ribs?" Emily asked, stopping at the bottom step with her hand on her hip.

He sighed. "I'm sorry Em, I'm just tired."

"That's no reason to take it out on _JJ._" She pointed out, torn between understanding his exhaustion and being annoyed at the way he had spoken to the child. "It took her days to even open up to us, and you almost undid it all with one comment."

"I know." He blew out a slow breath, disgusted with his actions. "I didn't mean to, I'll talk to her tomorrow."

"I know." She softened, leaving her indignant attitude and sitting down on the couch beside him. Gingerly, she began unbuttoning his shirt, swatting away his hand as he tried to stop her. "Let me see it." She ordered.

Reluctantly, he relented, watching her beautifully carved features as she gently removed his shirt. She gasped slightly. "Dave!" Her fingers itched forward, tracing the darkening splotchy pattern on his chest.

"It's nothing." He dismissed, though the pain that sprung in Emily's eyes confirmed the truth. This was not nothing. If the team had been ten minutes later, he could have been beaten to death.

It was a terrifying thought.

"You think it's easy for me to know you're out there?" Emily asked incredulously. "I couldn't sleep knowing that the team was on a case and I was here at home."

"Babysitting." Dave added for her, completely understanding. They had agreed that they would trade off traveling with the team on cases so that the kids could have some stability.

But this job, it was a part of them.

And change was hard.

"I wouldn't change any of it." Emily amended. "But it doesn't make me feel less guilty. What if you _died_ Dave? What would I do?"

He moved to put his arm around her, gasping instantly as the white-hot pain ignited across his chest.

Emily cringed, having experienced her own broken ribs.

He grimaced at the woman who rubbed his shoulder soothingly, "You're not going to have to worry about that, Beautiful."

"I almost did." She retorted softly, leaning softly against him as his comforting warmth reassured her that for now at least he wasn't going anywhere.

Both of them knew better than to make promises or guarantees—this job had a way of making broken promises standard.

But now, there were other people to think about than just him and her.

Neither noticed the little boy, perched on the top of the stairs as he watched them closely. Eventually, he stood and went back to JJ's room, locking the door behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **_Glad to see other people like this story. Sorry for the slow update, but this chapter just didn't seem to want to cooperate._

* * *

><p>JJ woke up early, already anxious at six o'clock in the morning. Slipping out of bed slowly so as not to wake Hotch, she padded quietly down to the kitchen.<p>

Looking around nervously, she quickly swiped a cup of pudding out of the pantry before anyone would notice.

At seven, JJ had learned to read adults carefully.

They were all the same.

They'd be nice, maybe even smile sometimes, but then they'd yell at her.

When she was little, a man once found her stealing his wallet and he pushed her so hard she fell down and scraped her knee.

People were mean and scary.

"JJ?" A low voice asked sleepily, causing her to turn around quickly in surprise.

She held the pudding cup closely behind her back, all too aware that any little thing she did wrong could get her in trouble.

She had to be careful.

Mr. Rossi pulled what looked to her like an angry face as he sat down at the kitchen table. "How did you sleep?" He asked.

She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to think of what he wanted her to say. If Hotch were here, he would tell her what to say, and JJ was far too aware that giving the wrong answer only got her in trouble.

She didn't like getting in trouble.

Seeing that JJ wasn't about to answer, Dave dropped any sense of pretense. "JJ, can you come sit by me so I can talk to you?"

Silently, but obediently, JJ slid up to the table while watching Dave closely.

He frowned, painfully aware that JJ was doing her best not to cower in fear in front of him.

He had to fix this, _now._

"JJ," He sighed, wondering what he could really say to make this better, "You and I need to talk about what happened last night."

She stared at him blankly and he could see the cogs in her mind turning as she tried to interpret what he was trying to figure him out.

"I'm sorry for getting angry with you." He explained slowly. "I had a bad day at work and got hurt, and I was impatient. I'm sorry."

Seeing the doubt and uncertainty in the child's eyes, he took a different tactic, backtracking slightly "JJ, do you know what it means to apologize?"

She shook her head slowly, glancing up to the stairs in a hope that Hotch would come and rescue her.

He frowned, utterly at a loss for what he could say to make this better. So instead, rather than faking words he knew she wouldn't understand, he smiled. "Why don't you come help me make breakfast?" He settled on.

He might not be able to make it better with a few words, but he'd be damned if he didn't try.

* * *

><p>Emily woke nearly fifteen minutes later, somewhat surprised to find Dave already up. The soft clanging coming from the kitchen downstairs only served to pique her interest.<p>

Dave was an amazing cook and even the suggestion that he was downstairs whipping up some calzone, omelet, or some other delicious meal made her mouth water.

But generally, her boyfriend—the ultimate antithesis of a morning person—was far more content to wait for Emily to make breakfast while he drowned himself in about a pot of coffee.

Padding quietly down the hall to peak over the stairs, her heart nearly melted at the sight of Dave lightly dusted in flour while JJ stood on a chair beside him.

_'Alright, so now we've got almost everything.' _ Dave looked around surveying the mess in front of them. _'Now what do you think we should do next.'_

_'Add the secret ingredient!'_ JJ exclaimed excitedly.

Curiously, Emily leaned over the banister to get a better look. While Dave and JJ had their backs to her, Dave had never been willing to part with any of his family's 'secret ingredients', and she couldn't help but wonder if she could overhear the well-guarded mystery.

_'Absolutely kiddo.' _Dave ruffled her hair slightly as he reached for a red bottle. Catching a movement out of the corner of his eye, he looked up at Emily and smirked. "Now JJ, what did I tell you about our secret ingredient?" He asked, smirking wildly while Emily tried to hide a blush at getting caught spying.

_'It's a family secret.' _JJ replied, poking their creation carefully, still not catching sight of Emily behind her. _'Which means I can't tell nobody—'specially not family.'_

Emily hooted, quickly descending the stairs to join the pair. "Now that doesn't seem fair." She pouted, kissing Dave lightly on the cheek.

JJ turned around on the chair quickly, hiding something behind her back. "It doesn't have to be fair, it's a secret." JJ parroted Dave's earlier words and bounced on her tiptoes lightly as she shifted the item behind her back tightly.

Emily felt a bubbling of affection well within her at JJ's sheer joy of being included in something so personal as a secret. She gave the child a mock-frown, her eyes sparkling at JJ's excitement. "But what about—" She started to retort, only to see JJ's face fall, her eyes filling with wild unbridled panic as a bottle clanged loudly against the eco-friendly tile that had taken Emily and Dave months to pick out.

Both adults watched in stunned horror as the bottle rolled toward Emily, effectively betraying JJ and Dave's shared secret.

Reacting quickly, Emily clamped her hands over her eyes, having clearly seen the bottle of saffron but realizing instantly that JJ didn't want her to see it. "It's okay." She assured the girl instantly.

"You weren't supposed to see." JJ cried, devastation clearly etched along her face. "I ruined it."

The mood in the room was quickly deteriorating. Dave's heart tensed as he saw large tears swell in JJ's eyes.

This couldn't be happening—his world was falling apart because of _saffron_.

Despite the severity of the situation, Dave found himself chuckling. A spice was going to cause irreparable harm if he didn't do anything about it. Picking up the spice, he stepped between Emily and JJ, crouching down slightly to meet JJ's eyelevel. "It's just a spice, Peanut." He smiled reassuringly, placing his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "It's no big deal."

"She wasn't supposed to see!" JJ cried, the tears falling down her chubby little cheeks in a stream. "I—"

He felt a surge of affection for the child who was full of undeserved self-loathing. He moved to pick her up, hissing as his ribs screamed in protest. Pushing away the pain, he compromised and hugged her tightly. "JJ, you are far more important than some secret ingredient."

JJ sniffed as she wrapped her arms around him tightly, igniting the pain in his ribs once more.

But this wasn't just the stiff and sore pain from his broken bones. This was a pain of healing.

And it almost felt good.

JJ sniffed again, pulling away to look at him with a frown that should have belonged to a far older adult. "I'm not an ingredient Mr. Dave." She reminded him seriously.

Emily snorted behind him, but he found himself chortling with laughter. "No, you aren't." He agreed, ruffling her hair lightly. "What do you say we finish breakfast?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **_ Sorry for the slow update, but this chapter just didn't seem to want to cooperate, the next one might be a little slow, but then the next ten chapters after that are already written-I know, right? 10 Chapters? I'm not kidding about that._

_I'm trying to make a more focused effort to write what other people like to read (because usually, I have no problem writing what I want to read, but I'm trying to make this about YOU too). If you have any suggestions or scenes you'd like, I'd love to hear it._

* * *

><p>A few days later, he found himself staring at the clock for almost an hour, anxiously waiting for the clock to speed up and let him out of the hell-hole of the FBI.<p>

Today was his day to pick up the kids.

Though the past few weeks had been anything but perfect, they were starting to fall into a routine. When there wasn't a case, he and Emily alternated leaving early to pick up the kids and take them home. If there was a case, they alternated with one of them going with the team and the other staying behind—though he had a feeling that with Emily's gift for languages, this nice bout of normalcy wouldn't last long.

But this routine, this'schedule', it was starting to feel almost normal.

And damn him if he wasn't already in love with family life.

Mercifully, the clock struck 2:30 and Dave snatched his keys off his desk and turned off his computer without another thought. He blew through the bullpen stopping only as he caught a glimpse of his girlfriend engrossed in the files piled up on her desk. Somewhat surprised that she hadn't been called into a meeting and was simply doing paperwork, he stopped just behind her as she looked up at him with annoyance.

"Leaving so soon?" She snorted, only needing to glance at the clock to feel the pang of disappointment that this wasn't her day to pick up the kids.

"Any excuse to get out of paperwork." He grinned mischievously. "Or don't you remember our Supply Closet Rendezvous?"

Emily blushed slightly, glancing over at Reid who was pretending not to be able to hear. Her blush deepening, she lowered her voice. "That was only a couple of times."

"Too few times if you ask me." He laughed.

She swatted him lightly before catching a glimpse at the clock and sighing, "You should go, you're going to be late."

He looked down at her inbox, smiling at the single file that remained. "Looks like you are almost done for the day." He observed.

She blew out her breath in annoyance as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ears. "Unfortunately, it's not even three o'clock which means Strauss should be by any second to dump a pile of expense reports on my desk, which means I won't be leaving Quantico until late tonight." She groaned, well aware of Strauss's innate ability to make her life a living hell. "Say hi to the kids for me before they go to bed." She said in all seriousness.

Dave frowned, all too familiar with Strauss' philosophy of punishing efficiency. "What if you come home with me now?"

She rolled her eyes. "We can't do that, it's going to take me another ten minutes just to finish." She calculated. "We'll be late picking up the kids."

He frowned as he glanced back at the clock, torn between rescuing the damsel of his dreams and not wanting to leave JJ and Hotch alone for a moment. "They can wait ten minutes." He assured her.

She sighed reluctantly, glancing at the clock again before she nodded. "You go clear it with Morgan, I'll finish up this report and we'll get there as soon as we can."

He smiled, kissing her quickly before sauntering up the stairs as he pushed away the nagging worry that the kids would be angry at being late. Shaking his head, he smiled as he reminded himself that even if JJ and Hotch were children, it would only be ten minutes.

* * *

><p>Hotch paced at the stoop of the schoolhouse, nervously chewing on his lip as his stomach sank.<p>

They weren't coming.

He knew this would happen.

JJ was watching him, nervously sucking on her fingers while she waited for him to tell her what to do.

They had been forgotten.

He felt tears sting the corners of his eyes, but he stubbornly and whole-heartedly refused to let them fall. Without a word, he nodded to JJ who followed him implicitly.

He should have known better.

* * *

><p>Emily bounced her knees nervously as Dave drove quickly to the upscale private elementary school.<p>

"Relax." He chuckled, dropping his hand comfortingly onto her left knee.

"I just hate the thought of them waiting for us." She murmured.

Pulling into the designated pick-up area, both adults frowned to find the entire area deserted of children.

"Maybe they stayed inside?" He offered hopefully, cringing as he could feel Emily's worry grow.

She shook her head slowly, scanning the area just in case the kids were hiding outside her first glance. "They lock the doors after 2:45." She explained.

"Maybe they started walking home?" He clenched down on his own anxiety that was slowly brimming to the surface.

They were just kids.

Just because he and Emily were painfully aware of the horrors that could befall children didn't mean they had been taken.

Maybe they had just walked home.

Silently, he pulled the car back onto the lonely highway, feeling his own worry grow with each second. Mercifully, about five minutes later, two small figures on the side of the road came into view.

Worry morphed to anger as Dave sped up, pulling the car to a stop behind them and rolling down the window.

"What the hell are you kids doing?" Dave asked incredulously, glancing over his shoulder to check traffic before jumping out of the car to shepherd the kids inside.

Hotch remained silent, obviously consumed with anger that seethed just below the surface.

"We're walking." Hotch spat defiantly, not bothering to turn around.

"Do you have any idea what could have happened?" Dave shot back furiously. He stopped as he felt Emily's hand on his arm, holding him back.

"We were worried about you guys." She explained, shooting Dave a censuring look.

Yelling, especially at JJ and Hotch, was never going to be effective.

Hotch whipped around to face her so angry she could almost see it radiating off him in droves. "You forgot us." He accused.

Her face fell, and despite the worry that both adults had felt they both recognized that this was neither the time nor the place to explain themselves. Hotch was angry and nothing they said was going to make it better. Luckily JJ seemed to simply be observing the argument with limited interest.

"We didn't forget you." Dave stepped in, felling guilt heaped on his shoulders at the accusation. "We were just running late."

Hotch bit the inside of his cheek, clamping down on his emotions while JJ watched him curiously, looking for any hint of how she was supposed to react.

"Why don't we get into the car?" Emily suggested, stepping between the kids and the highway as she kept an eye out for cars.

Hotch glared at her, frowning as he glanced back to JJ and nodded slowly.

JJ quickly slipped into her booster seat, wisely remaining quiet as Hotch followed behind her, still seething.

"Sorry guys." Dave offered an awkward smile as they settled back into the vehicle. "How was school?"

Hotch glared at the back of Emily's chair, ignoring Dave entirely. "You're sixteen minutes late." He accused.

Emily felt her heart drop and shot Dave a censuring grimace before turning around to apologize to the kids directly. "Dave was just about to leave—" She started, only to be stopped by her partner.

"I wanted to wait for Emily, I thought we could do something fun. Like maybe going out for ice cream?" He offered, cutting in to keep her from accepting blame that was entirely his fault.

"Ice cream?" JJ asked reverently, her eyes widening with excitement as she kicked her legs unconsciously against the back of Dave's chair. "Really Mr. Dave?"

"Really kiddo. What do you say Hotch?" He grinned, grateful at least that he had one over one of the kids.

The nine-year-old huffed, folding his arms across his chest defiantly he glared out the window.

"Aaron?" Dave prodded gently.

The boy snapped his head back toward the adults at the use of his given name. "She was _late_." He spat, incensed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **_ This chapter is dedicated to my awesome father, happy Father's Day Dad! It's a monster of a chapter, so have fun with that._

_I'm trying to make a more focused effort to write what other people like to read (because usually, I have no problem writing what I want to read, but I'm trying to make this about YOU too). If you have any suggestions or scenes you'd like, I'd love to hear it._

_I've joined several other authors on facebook (kdzl yi) so friend me to get updates for stories, chat, make requests, etc._

* * *

><p>Dave whistled as he walked toward his office, thumbing through a file.<p>

He wasn't sure how it was possible to be in such a good mood after a meeting with Erin Strauss, but somehow he had managed to keep the she-devil herself from stealing the joy inside him.

JJ was at ballet. Aaron was at football.

And he hadn't gotten so much as a _text_ that anything was going wrong.

So far? For his new little family, this constituted a good day.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he glanced toward his girlfriend's desk to see Emily working feverishly with a small girl in a bright pink tutu sitting beside her.

JJ.

"Don't tell me." He shook his head as he approached the pair. "Ballet is not going to work out."

Emily shook her head quickly, warning him off as she glanced down at JJ, relieved that the child hadn't heard the comment.

He nodded, catching the hint as he gestured toward his office.

Moments later, Emily met him inside. "So ballet?"

Emily rolled her eyes and buried her face in her hands. "I know. I know, it was a bad idea from the start."

"What happened?"

"What _didn't _happen?" Emily snorted. "She stole someone's fruit snacks."

Dave rolled his eyes, wondering when they'd get past the stealing. "That can't be it. They can't throw her out for that."

"Oh, it's not." Emily chuckled, glad that she and Dave had early on decided to find humor in each failure with the sure knowledge that they would eventually find the perfect fit.

Apparently, that was not ballet.

Or T-ball (much to Dave's disappointment). Or tap dance. Or basketball (again, to Dave's chagrin). Or girls' scouts.

If it wasn't so funny, it would be tragic.

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" Dave prodded.

"After she stole the fruit snacks, some girls were giggling. She thought they were laughing at her, so she pushed them."

"She pushed them?" He cringed, "Did you tell her—"

"It's not okay to push? Yes, we went over it right after I reminded her of the 'no stealing' rule." Emily sighed. "Then she got nervous because she didn't do the moves right, and she wanted to stand in the back but they made her stand in the front because she was shorter than the other girls. And, long story short, she had an accident."

Dave blew out his breath. "Damn. She was upset?"

Emily smiled, marveling not for the first time at how Dave was wrapped around the little girl's finger—not that the seven year old realized it. "She was more upset that she couldn't wear her tutu anymore because it was dirty, so I took her home to get cleaned up," Her cheeks reddened slightly as she admitted, "And I may have bought her a new one."

"Ahh," Dave grinned. "And you make fun of me for being a pushover." He smiled impishly.

She smirked sheepishly. "Well who says you get all the fun?" She shrugged. "So I get to be the one who buys her something that makes her eyes light up for a change."

He smiled smugly. She had been reprimanding him for weeks, reminding him that they couldn't buy the kids' love.

And while it was true—love couldn't be bought—it sure was enjoyable to see even Hotch's normally stoic face crack with pure joy and excitement.

While money didn't buy happiness, it was the best feeling in the world to spend money on children who before this didn't have anything.

Dave's eyes twinkled excitedly. "You know what this means don't you?"

Emily groaned, "Don't say it—" She winced. "It was one time."

"And because you've obviously given up on your 'we can't buy their love' stance, it means I win." He grinned widely.

"Says the man who would buy each of them their own Carnival if I let him." Emily scoffed

"We're getting Hotch a dog." He declared excitedly.

Emily frowned, shaking her head. This debate had gone back and forth with no apparent winner. Dave believed every boy should grow up with a dog. Emily had grown up in a family where everything had been at her disposal, but she never felt that her parents cared for her.

She wasn't going to let that happen to JJ and Hotch.

But seeing JJ's eyes light up at the simple tutu, Emily wouldn't have changed it for the world. "We'll see." She relented.

Dave's grin broadened. This conversation was in no way over, but he was slowly wearing her down.

They were _so close _to getting a dog.

.oOo.

Dave sighed the next day as he turned off the car in front of the prestigious elementary school. It was Emily's day at the office, and he had just gotten a call that she might be headed to Alabama if the briefing went the way she thought it would. Minutes later, Hotch and JJ's school called asking him to come down.

_Please don't let it be bad._ He prayed silently as he walked up the empty hallways to the principal's office.

He barely came into view of the Secretary before the other woman's face broke into a relieved smile. "Principal Brown, Mr. Rossi is here."

_Damn._ He cursed inwardly. He knew it was bad when the principal was already waiting for him and the _Secretary_ was relieved at his presence.

Principal Brown opened her door quickly, smiling easily. "Dave, thank you for coming." She gestured for him to take a seat.

He was surprised to see Hotch—not JJ—sitting in the seat across from the principal, his jaw set defiantly as he stared out the window. Sitting in the seat next to the boy, he frowned. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Aaron?" The principal prodded. "Can you tell Dave what happened?"

"No." Hotch ground out angrily, glaring at Principal Brown.

"Why not?" She asked softly.

"Because it's stupid." The boy remarked.

Dave shot the principal an apologetic smirk. "What happened Hotch?" He asked gently.

The boy shrugged, "I don't know."

Principal Brown sighed, "Aaron refused to take a test today." She explained. "We had a discussion," She glanced over at Hotch and smiled sadly at Dave, "And we thought it was best if we called you down here."

"Why didn't you take the test?" Dave asked, flabbergasted. "We studied for that test. You know that stuff."

"It was stupid. I didn't want to." Hotch muttered. "They can't make me."

Dave rubbed his brow, trying to think of something he could say to make it better. "Aaron—" He sighed awkwardly.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Hotch shouted angrily. "I didn't want to take it and you can't make me."

"Maybe it would be best if Hotch went home for the day." Principal Brown suggested. "Because you're right Aaron, I can't make you do anything." She looked at him squarely. "But I will not allow you to treat me or your teacher this way. It is unacceptable."

"Whatever." Hotch rolled his eyes dismissively.

Dave claimed his hand tightly on Aaron's shoulder, warning him against saying anything else. "Come on Hotch, we need to have a talk."

Despite Dave's attempts, they walked down the halls of the school and into the car with little conversation. Pulling onto the road, he found himself glancing back in the rear-view mirror, opening his mouth slightly before clamping it down tightly again.

What was he supposed to say?

Hotch glowered as he stared out the window, watching the scenery flash by them. "I hate them." He murmured eventually.

Dave frowned, willing the boy to talk about what was really going on. "No you don't. But something's making you mad, what's up?"

Hotch shifted uncomfortably in his seat and shrugged.

Dave wondered if the boy really knew what he was feeling, but wisely remained silent.

"They can't tell me what to do." He spat eventually. "They aren't the boss of me."

"You're right." Dave agreed softly.

Part of him wanted to take Hotch to the pound right now, to get the boy a dog that he could watch over and take care of. Even the worst psychologists could clearly see that Hotch was struggling adapting to a world where he wasn't responsible to provide for his sister.

A dog—any pet really—would at least help make that adjustment easier.

But the chance that Emily would be on a case tonight gave him pause.

If they were going to do this, if they were going to make this big of a commitment to help Hotch work through his issues, he had to make sure he and Emily were on the same page.

"Why don't we go get some ice cream?" He suggested, glancing back at the boy who had turned to look at him with a searching glare. "We can wait for JJ to finish school and then maybe we'll go to the park?" He tried to smile and make the situation seem light, but the boy's indifferent shrug seemed to wipe the smile off his face.

"Whatever." Hotch murmured, turning back to the window.

.oOo.

JJ knocked tentatively on the door in front of her, scared by the nightmare that had just tormented her dreams. "Mr. Dave?" She asked softly.

Dave was up and out of his bed in an instance. "JJ what's wrong?" He flipped on the lights to see the child with tears streaming down her face. "What happened?"

"I had a nigh'mare." She hiccupped, throwing her arms around his legs as she held him desperately.

"Oh, kiddo, it's okay." He soothed, glancing back at the empty bed as he somewhat wished Emily was here to tell him what to do instead of travelling with the team. While she would be home tomorrow, that did nothing to help him deal with the sobbing seven year old. Sighing, he squatted down, rubbing the distraught child on her back soothingly, "It was a dream. That's all over now." He promised.

"I don't want you to throw me away." She cried, clinging to him tighter.

"Oh JJ." He felt tears brimming at his own eyes at the thought. "I would never throw you away." He insisted. "Emily and I love you."

They sat like that for a moment, JJ sobbing lightly against him as she took comfort from his warm strong presence.

"Should we go have some cereal?" He offered once her cries subsided.

He felt her nod against him and pulled away only slightly to look at her. "JJ, we love you." Now checking the child over, and well aware that nightmares usually coincided with her accidents, his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Did you have an accident?" He asked on seeing that other than her tear-stained cheeks she was completely dry.

JJ shook her head, not understanding the minor accomplishment.

He smiled, picking her up into his arms as he carried her quietly down the hall in an attempt to let Hotch keep sleeping. "Maybe this time you can tell _me_ a story." He teased the little girl in his arms who smiled despite herself.

Hotch frowned as he heard the other two sneak softly past his room, wondering why it made his stomach hurt that JJ asked Dave for help instead of him.

If she didn't need him anymore, fine.

Glancing at his door that was open a small crack, he pulled the covers over him tighter and buried his face against the pillow.

He didn't need anyone anyway.

.oOo.

"This is stupid." Hotch muttered the next evening, folding his arms in an attempt to convey his annoyance as the new family surrounded the breakfast table.

"Hotch, we want to do something fun. Emily just got home." Dave warned, pulling out the pieces to game of SORRY as he began putting the game together. "What color would each of you like to be?"

"Blue!" JJ said instantly, nearly dancing with excitement.

"No!" Hotch shouted, pushing JJ's hand away as she reached for the game pieces. "_I_ want to be blue."

"Now Hotch, JJ said first—" Emily tried to explain diplomatically, only to be interrupted by the nine year old's sudden outburst.

"_I want to be blue!_" Hotch shouted, enraged. If he were to stop, and try to explain, he couldn't say why JJ not listening to him made his insides tumble.

No, it just made him angry.

"Hey." Dave clamped his hand firmly on Hotch's shoulders, effectively shutting down the outburst. "We don't shout. That's not how we talk to one another." He informed seriously. "Because you are not being nice, JJ gets to be blue. You can be red."

"I hate this game." Hotch muttered, fingering the small tokens in his hands as he softly put them into place.

The game proceeded slowly, Emily and Dave trying to help JJ each time she counted out the spaces while Hotch seemed to grow more and more impatient.

"What's this one?" JJ asked Emily excitedly as she drew the card.

"Sorry." Emily read, "Take a token from START and switch with any player, sending that player's token back to START."

JJ scrunched up her face as she looked at the board carefully. Both Dave and Emily only had tokens in the 'Home' squares or still at Start, while Hotch had two other game pieces still on the board. Picking the one closest to her (and coincidentally closest to Hotch's 'Home' space) she exchanged the tokens and put Hotch's back at his Start position. "Sorry!" She called in a sing-song voice.

Livid, Hotch jumped up from his seat. "That's not fair!" He cried. "I was winning!"

"I think it's getting time to go to bed." Emily surmised, beginning to clean up the game. "We'll call it a tie."

"Wahoo!" JJ danced happily.

"You're so _stupid._" Hotch turned on his sister, flinging the board up off the table sending all of the pieces up into the air. "You ruined it."

"Hotch—" Dave warned, but the children seemed to pay the adults no mind.

"I was just playing." JJ defended, her voice wavering slightly despite the defiant glint in her eyes. "You're just being mean."

"I hate you!" Hotch shouted at JJ, picking up one of the small game pieces and throwing it at his sister. "You're—"

"That's enough." Dave stood interrupting the child's rant and clamping his hand on the boy's shoulder as he guided the boy out of the room. "Up to your room, now."

"But—that's not fair!" Hotch cried indignantly. "She ruined it!"

"I don't care." Dave insisted, "Now march, young man."

After glancing over at Emily to ensure she could handle the emotional fall-out of the sibling's argument, Dave slowly ascended the stairs and knocked on the little boy's door. "Hotch, can I come in?"

"No." Hotch grumbled.

Dave snorted, kicking himself. "Well too bad, I'm coming in anyway. We need to talk." Taking the boy's silence for acceptance, Dave opened the door slowly and slipped inside. He sat down at the foot of the bed, pretending not to notice how Hotch wiped at his eyes carefully.

"I wasn't crying." The boy sniffed, turning away from his adoptive father.

"I didn't say you were." Rossi held up his hands in surrender. "I just thought you and I needed to have a talk. Man to man."

Hotch sniffed and thankfully, rolled over to face the older man. "JJ was being—"

"Now now, I don't care what JJ was doing. I care about what's going on inside of you." Dave interrupted.

Hotch frowned, not understanding. This felt like every time he had to go talk to Dr. Rivers, except Dave would play basketball with him. Not that Hotch would ever admit that he liked that. "There's nothing going on inside of me." He insisted.

"I think there is." Dave insisted. Sighing, he decided he'd try a different tactic. "Hotch, you and me, we're the men of this house." Dave started conversationally, well aware that if Emily even caught a hint of this conversation she would subject both children to the finer lessons of the feminist movement. "And that means we need to protect our girls."

"Emily an' JJ?" The boy asked curiously, sitting up as the conversation sparked his interest.

"Yeah, Emily and JJ." Dave smiled. "Hotch, you've been the man who takes care of JJ for a long time." He pointed out, "But now, you and me, we've got to work together."

Hotch's frown deepened, "JJ was being dumb." He insisted.

"Sport, part of being a man is watching out for the people you love." Dave explained. "I can't let you talk about JJ like that, because I love her. Just like if someone tried to say something mean about Emily, I would stop them—because I love her." His voice caught as he realized the veracity of the statement.

Hotch fell silent, contemplating Dave's explanation. "I don't like it when people are mean to JJ either." He added softly.

"But I think you hurt her feelings down there." Dave pointed out,"You normally aren't like that. Why did you hurt her feelings?"

"I dunno." Hotch muttered, pulling his knees into his chest.

"But did you do it on purpose?" Dave asked, surprised that argument hadn't already been raised.

Hotch shrugged.

Dave frowned, not sure how much he should push and how much he should let go for a later time. "Hotch, a man doesn't hurt the people he loves on purpose. Ever." He sighed, running a hand through his graying hair. "But sometimes we make mistakes. So when we find out that one of our girls is hurt, we do whatever we can to help them."

Hotch chewed the inside of his lip, contemplating Dave's words. "But what if we're the one that hurt them?" He asked eventually.

"Well Sport, then we apologize." Winking, he dropped his voice and offered the sage advice that had taken him far too long to learn. "And sometimes we apologize even if we don't know what we did wrong."

"I don't want to apologize." Hotch admitted bluntly.

Dave turned the chuckle that erupted out of him into a light cough. _He_ didn't like apologizing either most of the time. But apologizing meant make-up sex. And that was _not_ a conversation he was about to have with the nine-year-old.

"That's part of growing up, Son." He added finally, not realizing the affectionate term that had seeped into his words. Hotch too seemed to engrossed in the conversation to notice. "But I won't push you to apologize until you're ready."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **_I'm trying to make a more focused effort to write what other people like to read (because usually, I have no problem writing what I want to read, but I'm trying to make this about YOU too). If you have any suggestions or scenes you'd like, I'd love to hear it. This is also my effort to weave a little more cannon into the story._

_I've joined several other authors on facebook (kdzl yi) so friend me to get updates for stories, chat, make requests, etc._

* * *

><p>Stupid commie sport.<p>

He had suggested it as a joke after Emily shot down the idea of softball.

_'Do you remember the T-ball fiasco? If she can't hit a ball when it's sitting right in front of her, what makes you think she'll do it when you throw it at her?'_ Emily had scoffed.

And so, mostly thanks to his utter stupidity, he had suggested the sport he hated the most.

Soccer.

Dave grimaced as he followed JJ, Hotch, and Emily onto the Elementary School field early Saturday Morning.

It wasn't often that he prayed for an epic failure, but if JJ came through for him this time, he swore inside himself that he would buy her a pony.

Don't let JJ fall in love with a commie sport—that was all he asked.

"Okay JJ." He tossed the soccer ball onto the ground. "Let's try this."

"Why do I have to be here?" Hotch groaned, sulking.

"Because we need your help and it will be fun." Emily encouraged, ruffling his dark hair playfully. Hotch scowled as he fixed his hair, glaring at Emily with a look far better suited for someone five times his age.

"And then we can go get ice cream?" JJ asked excitedly, and for a brief moment Dave was almost glad to be outside with her and not stuck in the car anymore as she bounced off the walls.

"Then we can go get ice cream." Dave smiled. "Now this game, you don't use your hands at all."

"Why not?" JJ asked curiously.

"Because, those are the rules of the game." He explained, wondering himself why the rules were that way. "Now the object of the game is to kick the ball into the other team's goal."

"That's stupid." Hotch folded his arms defiantly.

_It is stupid._ Dave agreed, knowing that if he said it aloud Emily would never let him hear the end of it. Then she'd probably put the poor girl into some chick-sport like _volleyball_. Dave shuddered, refocusing on the task at hand. If JJ hated soccer, Emily got to pick the next activity, and then it was his turn again.

"It's not stupid, it is going to be fun." Emily corrected gently.

"That doesn't seem hard." JJ hedged, kicking the ball softly to ensure there wasn't some trick.

"Well you play on a team. So the other team tries to keep you from kicking the ball into their goal. Then they try to take the ball away from you and kick the ball into _your_ goal."

"And that's bad." Emily added, hoping to leave no room for error. With JJ, though, anything was possible. The girl seemed to be able to find a loophole in everything, only to grow frustrated when she found out there was a rule she hadn't been taught yet.

"That's all?" JJ asked skeptically.

"Well normally each team has one person in the goal that keeps everything out. They can use their hands, or really anything else, to catch the ball or keep it out of the goal."

"But you said I couldn't use my hands." JJ wondered, confused at the sudden change of rules. "That's not fair."

_Score. _ Dave smiled at the initial confusion, already planning to have another try at baseball.

"I did say that." Dave explained calmly, "But each side gets one. If you like this sport, we'll have you join a team so you can try out all the spots and see what you like best. Today we won't play with goalies because that won't be as fun."

JJ appeared thoughtful and, after a moment, nodded.

"Em, why don't you and Hotch be on a team, JJ and I will be on the other?" Dave suggested. He would never _actually_ undermine the success of the girl he was beginning to think of as a daughter, but he prayed that JJ would at least continue her consistent streak. All he was asking for was one more failure.

Emily chuckled knowingly, well aware of his hatred for soccer.

"I don't want to play." Hotch insisted, not really sure why he was being so difficult but seemingly unable to act any differently.

"Come on Hotch, it will be fun." Emily persuaded.

"Whatever."

Emily rolled her eyes, whispering something secretly that at least made the normally stoic nine year old boy's frown soften.

In the end, Dave should have known that soccer would be the answer.

It was karma.

But, his hatred for the sport quickly melted away as he watched JJ's short little legs pump quickly down the field, outmaneuvering others with a natural skill that left him in awestruck pride. Granted, she was seven years old, so if either he or Emily really tried, she'd never get past them.

But for seven, he was pretty sure she was a child prodigy.

And the fact that they were already twenty minutes into an activity and they had yet to see any tears meant that this was the greatest success since Columbus discovering America.

JJ was a soccer player.

And much to David Rossi's dismay, he couldn't be prouder.

.oOo.

An hour later, Emily found herself glancing back at the two kids in the backseat with excitement.

This was supposed to be Dave's thing, but she was starting to believe that she was more excited than the kids were.

Though, in all fairness, this was going to be a surprise.

Dave reached over, grabbing her hand tightly as if to somehow convey that she was nearly as excited as he felt. "You sure you're okay with this?"

She rolled her eyes, knowing that he was teasing her for standing in the way for so long. As they pulled up to the Humane Society parking lot, she bounced her knee nervously while she waited for the car to pull to a stop.

"Alright, Hotch." She grinned, "This is your special surprise."

Hotch looked at the building cautiously, not really understanding. Shrugging, he huffed back into his chair. "Whatever."

Dave practically jumped out of the car, infected by the excitement that seemed to have overwhelmed Emily as well. "Come on guys, you're going to love this."

JJ grinned, quickly picking up on the adults' excitement as Dave held the car door open for her. Reluctantly, Hotch opened the door and slipped out of the car, wary of what this surprise could entail.

JJ skipped excitedly through the parking lot, holding Dave's hand as he smiled down at her exuberance.

Emily followed Hotch, smiling as he too quickened his pace slightly, as if unwilling to admit that his curiosity was getting the best of him.

They pushed the door open to the small building quickly, greeted by a kind looking woman with red-rimmed glasses. "Hi, how can I help you?"

"We're here to adopt." Dave smiled warmly. He patted Hotch's back, pushing the boy forward slightly as he glanced down at the child.

"Surprise Hotch, we're getting you a dog." Emily grinned.

Hotch's face broke into a wide smile before he could stop himself. "Really?" He asked in disbelief, looking up at both Dave and Emily in shock.

"Really kiddo." He grinned.

"If you'll just step this way, we have several animals ready for adoption." The woman held the door open for them, ushering them into the large room with the rescued pets.

It took less than a second stepping into the long hallway with dogs clamoring happily for JJ to become overwhelmed and cling to Dave's side with a terrified fervor.

He stopped, frowning. "What's wrong Peanut?"

JJ's eyes were wide as she scanned the room and buried her head against him.

_Shit._ Dave wanted to cover his eyes and hide. This was going to be a perfect surprise, an opportunity to give Hotch something that might make him feel special—and neither he nor Emily had even thought that some unknown event could have made this traumatic for their other child.

But they had already promised.

So what was he supposed to do now? Break a promise to a nine year old? Or traumatize a seven year old?

Either way, he was the one who let these kids down once again.

He frowned, glancing up at Emily reluctantly. "Maybe this isn't the best idea right now. We could wait—"

She shook her head, determined as she knelt down to JJ's level. "You take Hotch." She instructed Dave, gently pulling JJ away from him as she captured the child's attention. "JJ and I are going to head across the street for some ice cream and some girl time. Is that okay JJ?"

JJ nodded and reluctantly let go of Dave to let Emily quickly lead her back outside, much to JJ's relief.

Hotch frowned as he watched JJ and Emily depart. "JJ's scared of dogs." He remembered. "Especially mean ones."

"Well these aren't mean dogs. In fact, these dogs are different from just any old puppy." Rossi frowned, hoping they were making the right decision. "These animals just want a nice home to feel safe."

"He's right." The woman beside them smiled, "These animals have been rescued. Where they were living before, bad things happened to them. We're here to help them find homes where they'll be safe and happy."

Hotch looked at the woman, processing the significance of that statement before turning back to the lines of cages as one dog in particular looked up at him with a shared connection that could only be forged through severe torment. Hotch stepped closer to the mangy creature. "I want that one."

Dave smiled, well aware that there were probably more refined looking dogs than the scraggly animal in front of him, but if that was what Hotch wanted, he didn't really care. "What do you want to name him?"

Hotch bent down to the dog's level as the woman beside them opened up the gated off area and pulled the older dog toward Hotch and Dave.

"Jack." Hotch said softly, grinning as the dog slowly approached him and licked his hand. Looking up at Dave, he frowned as he realized he couldn't hide how much he wanted this dog. "Can I keep him?" He asked, knowing what the answer would probably be.

Dave felt his heart break right there in front of him at the rare look of vulnerability. "Yeah Sport, you can keep him."

.oOo.

The next morning, Emily found herself standing behind JJ in the bathroom with a brush in hand, trying to wrangle the child's golden blonde hair before she went out to play and messed it up anyway. She felt JJ's eyes on her, watching her closely, but chose to let JJ mull over whatever was going on in her mind until she was ready to talk about it.

"Miss Emily, why don't you and Mr. Dave have kids?" JJ asked finally as Emily separated her hair into pig tails, beginning to braid the left side.

"Well JJ." Emily sighed thoughtfully as she contemplated how to explain adult issues to such a little girl. Finally, she decided that honesty was probably the easiest route. "Dave and I have wanted to have kids for a long time." She explained, "And I was pregnant, but then the baby died."

"Like an 'bortion?" JJ asked knowingly.

Emily stepped back slightly, shocked. "No." Her voice caught in her throat as she forced herself to continue with the mundane task of braiding the little girl's hair. "Not like an abortion."

"My mom said it'd be better if she'd done an 'bortion with me." JJ said simply.

Emily forced herself not to react, though her stomach rolled at the thought that a woman could be so callous toward her own daughter. "What do you think about that?" She asked.

"I don't know." JJ shrugged as she watched Emily expertly braid her hair.

"Would you like to know what I think?" Emily asked, waiting patiently for the girl to respond despite the way that every fiber within her wanted to do exactly the opposite and act impulsively.

But she had learned that JJ needed time. JJ didn't like being caught off guard or suddenly confronted with mounds of information. She liked to be prepared for wherever the conversation was going next. If Hotch wasn't around, then she liked to be in control.

And so Emily would play this JJ's way.

"What do you think Miss Emily?" JJ asked curiously.

"I think you are the most precious little girl I've ever known." Emily explained conversationally, the truth easily flowing from within her heart. "And I can't imagine my life without you and your brother in it. Even though you've only been with us for a few days, I love you." She bent down to JJ's eye level, gazing deeply into the small blue orbs. "I love you."

JJ paused thoughtfully as Emily stood and made quick work of her hair. Emily reluctantly moved on to the other side, slowly beginning the French braided pig-tail in an attempt to prolong the rare moment with the seven year old sitting somewhat still. "My mom never said she loved me. Is that what you're supposed to say when you're growed up?"

Emily frowned as thoughts raced through her mind. She remembered being a little girl, confiding to others that she didn't feel loved. Their response was always the same: _Your mom loves you, she just has a different way of showing it._

Her mother had never been abusive. Emotionally distant maybe, but never abusive.

Still, emotional unavailability wasn't love.

And it took her more than thirty years to work through her issues.

JJ didn't need any more obstacles to hurdle.

"She probably didn't love you." Emily replied honestly. "Because when you love someone, you don't want them to hurt or be sad. You want them to be happy and you want them to smile because deep inside it makes you smile too."

JJ cocked her head to the side, making it infinitely harder for Emily to complete the hairstyle, though she wasn't about to complain as she saw the cogs turning in the child's mind.

Sighing, she finished the last pigtail and lowered JJ's braided hair back down to rest on her shoulders. Kissing the top of JJ's head gingerly, Emily smiled. "All done."

JJ slipped off the chair quickly, her face breaking into a wide grin as she surveyed her hair in the mirror. She practically bounced toward the door before stopping and turning back toward Emily. "I love you too." JJ smiled before darting away from the bathroom that had confined her for far too long.

It may not have fixed everything, but it was a start.


	12. Chapter 12

Nearly a week later, Penelope balanced her phone on her shoulder as she tried to run multiple searches in record time. "I'll have that back to you in a jiffy." She promised Derek.

"Is that Emily?" JJ, clad in her soccer uniform that she refused to take off, tugged gently on Garcia's arm.

"No Cupcake. This is Derek, do you want to say hi?" Penelope chuckled as JJ huffed and flopped back onto the couch with disappointment.

Emily and Agent Rossi had both been needed on the serial rapist case in Albuquerque, and so the pair had reluctantly left the two children in Garcia's capable hands. Though that didn't stop the profilers from calling every twenty minutes, nor did it stop JJ from expecting the adults to be on the other line every time someone from the team called. Hotch had pouted nearly the entire time so far, and was now visible out the French doors while he played basketball in the backyard despite the fact it was beginning to grow dark.

_'Tell JJ bye.'_ Morgan laughed, well aware that the child had no desire to speak with him.

"Jayje, Derek wants to tell you goodnight." She offered the phone to the girl who accepted it reluctantly.

"Are you with Mr. Dave and Emily?" She asked instantly.

_Derek chuckled. 'No. They are out at—' He stopped himself instantly cringing at the thought of Emily kicking his ass for giving her children nightmares, 'they're out.'_

"Oh." JJ frowned with disappointment as she thought about what that meant. "Is Spence there?"

_Derek snorted, 'Why yes, he is. Would you like to talk to him?' He asked, already knowing the answer._

"Yay!" JJ grinned widely. If she couldn't talk to Emily or Mr. Dave, she was at least happy she could talk to Spence.

_'Hi JJ.' _

"Spence, did ya know that choral is an _animal, _and not a plant?" She asked excitedly, not pausing for a breath, "And we worked on fractions today, and Teacher said that I did good."

_'Well.' Reid corrected immediately, grinning proudly at the thought that he could help JJ in any way. 'You did well.'_

"That's what Teacher said!" JJ beamed, her energy growing as she started bouncing softly on the couch.

Garcia smirked as she watched JJ talk to Reid on the phone. Somewhere down the line, JJ had become enamored with the resident genius, hanging on his every word. While the team took to teasing Reid mercilessly, it was adorable how the seven-year-old became completely enthralled in whatever he had to say.

_'Ok, JJ. I have to go. Good night.'_

"Night." JJ frowned, hanging up and handing the phone back to Penelope. "I'm bored."

"Well let me finish this, and then we can watch a movie." Garcia coaxed.

JJ crossed her arms, pouting. "I don't like Mr. Dave and Emily being gone." She admitted.

Penelope frowned and closed her laptop, loving this little girl more than she ever thought possible. "Well Jayje, you know they don't like being gone from you and Aaron, right?"

JJ shrugged.

Seeing that the child wasn't so easily convinced, she tried a different tactic. "JJ, what's something you like more than anything else?"

"Soccer."

"Why do you like soccer?"

"Because I get to run and kick things." JJ leaned forward and added in a hushed whisper, "An' sometimes I can kick somebody if it's an accident."

Penelope giggled in delight. "Only on accident?" She asked, her eyebrow quirking knowingly.

JJ gave a sheepish grin. "Sometimes I do it on purpose." She admitted.

Garcia cackled with joy. "Sometimes I kick people on purpose too." She giggled with a conspiratorial whisper. Settling down, she composed herself slightly in order to make her point. "JJ, just as much as you like playing soccer, Dave and Emily like to help catch bad guys. They don't like being away from you, but they have this super magical ability to make everything better and make bad guys go away." She had become so engrossed in the conversation, she hadn't noticed Hotch slip back into the house with Jack at his heels.

Hotch snorted in disbelief. "Magic isn't real." He rolled his eyes, sitting down beside his sister.

JJ nodded, glancing up at Penelope with a small frown, looking much older than her seven years. "Yeah, magic isn't _real_." She agreed, rolling her eyes just like her brother. "Only little kids believe in magic."

Garcia felt her own heart drop, horrified. "No way my little munchkins! Magic is more real than you and I."

JJ rolled her eyes in disbelief. "That's what big people tell babies." The child insisted, her brother nodding her approval.

And right then, Penelope Garcia was faced with the greatest mission of the new age. A mission in which she refused to fail. These kids deserved to believe that the happy goo that made the world go 'round was more powerful than the dark and scary monsters that hid in their closets.

And Penelope Garcia refused to give up until she taught these kids to believe in magic.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Emily glanced at Dave sadly as she placed her hand on the doorknob to the kid's principal's office.<p>

This was becoming a far too often occurrence.

Pushing the door open, she smiled sadly at the two children who sat across from the principal, JJ with her arms folded defiantly as Hotch looked somewhat uncomfortable at being there.

"Em, Dave." Anna greeted them with a sigh. "Thanks for coming."

"What happened?" Emily asked, sliding into the chair that she was beginning to wonder if she should replace as a donation to the school. She spent enough time there that the uncomfortable chair was beginning to get on her nerves.

"JJ?" Anna prodded gently.

"I didn't do anything wrong." JJ huffed petulantly.

"Hotch?" The principal asked.

The boy shifted uncomfortably. "It's her fault." He murmured. "She was being dumb."

Dave quirked his eyebrow at the principal, aware that she wanted to give the kids a chance to explain, but still confused as to what they were doing there today.

Anna sighed. "Today the school started posting flyers for our annual 'Parents Day' Celebration." She sighed, glancing toward JJ. "By lunch, most of the flyers were missing."

"And you just assumed that JJ took-?" Dave jumped to JJ's defense instantly before being cut off by the principal.

"No." She stopped him, her gaze letting him know that she indeed believed JJ was responsible, "The problem happened when JJ's teacher passed out the invitation for the parents."

Emily and Dave sat silently, still not understanding. "What happened Sweetheart?" Emily asked JJ carefully.

JJ looked up at the profiler, her eyes stinging with tears of betrayal. "It's not fair!" She huffed. "You're not my mom!" JJ cried, pushing Emily's comforting hand away. "Teacher told me I _had_ to give out the invitation. _I don't want to!_"

"Hey now, it's not nice to yell." Dave scolded gently, reaching around Hotch to rub JJ's back soothingly. "But JJ, you know we wouldn't come if you didn't want us to." Dave assured her, confused as to why this was such a big issue. He thought he and Emily had made it clear that everything was happening on the kids' pace. "We love you kiddo."

JJ shrugged uncomfortably.

"And you Hotch? What happened?" Dave inquired.

Hotch glowered at his sister. "She just kept making a big deal about it!" He admitted with a tone full of annoyance. "Even at recess! And everybody was lookin' at us." Turning back to JJ, he shouted angrily. "Who cares if we don't have parents? You're so weird! Why can't you be normal?"

"They aren't our parents! I don't want our parents to come!" JJ screamed back, tears falling down her small chubby cheeks. "They're dead and I don't want them to come!"

"Whoa!" Dave intercepted, placing a strong hand on Hotch's thin shoulders. "Again, it's not nice to yell. We talk nicely to one another. What's up with you two?"

"I just don't want people knowin' all the time." Hotch admitted, slumping back into his chair.

Emily frowned as she looked at the two children, both still obviously distraught. "Anna, do you mind if we—?" She let the question trail off, implicitly asking for a moment of privacy with her family.

Most of this would take years to resolve.

But some things needed to be cleared up right away.

"Of course." Emily's longtime friend smiled, "Take as long as you need." She added, quickly leaving her own office.

"JJ, do you know what that word right there says?" Emily put her arm around JJ and pointed to a small line on the invitation.

"No." JJ shrugged.

"Sound it out with me." Emily instructed carefully, well used to how JJ tried to manipulate her way out of feeling insecure, particularly when it came to reading. "P- are – nts" She guided the girl slowly. "What word is that?"

"Parents." JJ deduced, more from Emily's help than actual reading.

"Good job." Emily praised. "What is a parent?"

"A mommy or a daddy." JJ replied instantly, beaming at the knowledge that her answers were right.

"That's exactly right." Emily smiled at the child who was tucked under her arm. "Now what's this next one?"

Hotch glanced over at the piece of paper, somewhat annoyed at having been left out of the conversation for so long. "Guardian." He announced, snatching the paper out of JJ's hands.

"That's not fair!" JJ cried, standing up out of her seat in near hysterics as she tried to retrieve the flyer. "That was _mine._ I was reading it."

"No you weren't." Hotch rolled his eyes, annoyed. "You can't read."

"Yes I was." JJ retorted, her voice pitching toward a nearly intolerable height.

"Okay guys, knock it off." Dave interrupted, wondering just when these two had started jumping down each other's throats. "Hotch, that wasn't very nice to do to your sister. What do you say?"

"Sorry." Hutch muttered, huffing back in his chair.

"Hotch was right though, this word says 'Guardian'." Emily continued, turning back to the flyer that had garnered so much drama. "Hotch, do you know what the word 'Guardian' means?"

"No." The boy crossed his arms defiantly as he glowered at the others.

Catching onto his girlfriend's brilliant plan, Dave grinned. "A guardian is a person who watches out for you. Someone who takes care of you and tries to make good things happen for you. A guardian is also someone who helps you when things get sad."

Seeing that both children were listening carefully, Emily continued. "Most of the time, parents are supposed to be guardians and protectors. A mom and a dad are supposed to watch out for their children and protect them when things are sad." She explained, "But sometimes, parents are mean and selfish and because the little boy or girl is so special, they have a Guardian instead."

"So you and Mr. Dave are garden'ins?" JJ looked up at Emily with trusting eyes, ready to accept whatever the woman told her.

"We are _your_ Guardians." Dave agreed correcting her pronounciation and putting his arm around the back of Hotch's chair, smiling as the little boy seemed to soften slightly. "We love you both."

"And one day," Emily explained hesitantly, glancing over at Hotch to ensure he knew her words were directed to him as well, "maybe you will decide that you want us to be your parents." She waited to see what reaction her suggestion would have on the kids. When they both stayed silent, she added. "But until then, and maybe forever, Dave and I will always watch out for you."

"And even for Parents Day." Dave explained, "Parents or _Guardians_ are invited to come."

"So you can come?" JJ asked excitedly, her earlier tantrum forgotten.

Glancing over at her boyfriend over the heads of the children, Emily smiled. "We can come."

* * *

><p>"Hotch?" JJ sniffled in a hushed whisper as she knocked gently on the door of her brother's room, shifting uncomfortably in her wet pajamas as she waited for her big brother to make it all better.<p>

When Hotch didn't reply, JJ tried the door and frowned as she found it locked.

"Hotch?" She asked a little louder, knocking again as tears spilled down her cheeks.

She didn't know what to do.

She yelled at Emily today. Mr. Dave said it wasn't nice to yell. She wasn't nice today.

But, Hotch always made it better.

When there was no answer, she sniffled again, brushing the tears from her eyes.

Hotch didn't want her anymore.

He told her she was weird.

She didn't think he meant it.

She choked back a sob as she sucked on her fingers nervously.

She didn't know what to do.

Knocking once more, she prayed Hotch would answer. "Hotch?" She asked one final time.

The normally impatient seven year old waited almost thirty seconds—an eternity in the child's mind—before running down the stairs toward the front door.

Opening the front door, she ran out without a backward glance, slamming the door behind her.

.oOo.

Hotch sat in his bed as he heard the front door slam, biting down on his thumbnail as he brooded thoughtfully while the dog at the foot of his bed whined softly in his sleep at the loud sound.

JJ had to learn.

He couldn't always be there for her.

She had to learn.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: **_I'm trying to make a more focused effort to write what other people like to read (because usually, I have no problem writing what I want to read, but I'm trying to make this about YOU too). If you have any suggestions or scenes you'd like, I'd love to hear it._

* * *

><p>Early the next morning, Emily knocked softly on Hotch's door. "Hotch? It's time to get up." She announced, not bothering to attempt to open the closed door.<p>

The boy deserved his privacy.

Stepping just a few feet down the hall, she knocked gently on JJ's door. "JJ, Sweetie? Time to get up." She called, pushing the open door just a few inches further.

The smell of urine wafted toward her, and she frowned as she pushed her way gently into the room. "JJ?" She called, surprised to see the young girl's disheveled bed empty.

"JJ?" She stepped back into the hall just as Hotch was shuffling out of his room. "JJ where are you Sweetheart?" She called nervously, running down the stairs in an attempt to find the child.

She wasn't really gone.

Maybe she had gotten up early.

Fighting the sickening pit in her stomach, she rushed quickly from room to room. "JJ, I need you to come out now. You're scaring me. Where are you?"

"Em?" Dave bounded down the stairs, glancing over at Hotch who was pouring himself a bowl of cereal. "What's going on?"

"JJ?" Emily opened the large French doors that led to the backyard, completely ignoring her boyfriend. "JJ! I'm not mad Sweetheart, but come out _right now!"_ She shouted, nearing hysterics.

"JJ?" Dave called loudly, his eyes widening as he bolted toward the front door, following Emily's example. "JJ where are you?" His stomach sank as he saw a small purple ribbon lying haphazardly on the front step.

Picking up the ribbon he turned back to his girlfriend, hoping that someone would have the answers.

Silence was all that met the worried profilers.

And that was the moment, Emily Prentiss thought her heart was ripped right out of her chest.

Because JJ was gone.

* * *

><p>Garcia's fingers flew rapidly over the keys as she sat beside her best friend. "Alright, I've got all local, federal, and state agencies looking for her, and a scrolling banner is going to be running all day on every major television network servicing the tri-state area." She looked over at her broken friend, "We're going to find her Emily."<p>

Emily stared off into the distance, her eyes red as tears pooled again at the corner of her eyes.

Her blank stare only deepened seconds later when Dave was nearly forcefully pushed back inside. "I mean it, Rossi. Take a minute, you're too close to this." Morgan informed the older man seriously.

"Too close to this?" Dave ranted incredulously, "She's my _daughter_ for fuck's sake! She's missing! And that asshole wants to ask me questions about her school and how she's adjusting? How the hell is that supposed to find her?"

"Take a minute, that's an order." Morgan commanded more firmly. "We're doing the best we can. Reid's doing a geographical profile right now to help narrow down where she might be, but we have to consider the alternative."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dave spat, "Why aren't we considering every alternative? What the hell is going on?"

Morgan stopped him, aware that even the seasoned profiler had reached his limit. "We need to know. Did she run away? Was she taken? That's going to change everything."

"Why the hell would she run away?" Dave fumed. "What are you trying to suggest?" He spat, his fury growing with every second. "You think I would _hurt_ my daughter?"

"That's not what I'm saying Rossi and you know it." Morgan retorted.

"You think she doesn't like it here, that she's not happy?" Dave asked, his tone more deflated as he contemplated how he could have let this happen.

"She didn't get taken." Hotch interrupted the adults after a moment, the guilt building inside of him to a point that he couldn't keep it a secret any more. "She left."

Emily wiped at her eyes, "What do you mean Honey?" She prodded the nine year old.

"I heard her." He admitted softly.

Silence descended on the whole house like a thick fog as the adults processed the child's information.

"Do you remember what time?" Garcia asked after a moment, her fingers already rapidly typing on her keyboard.

"The clock said 2:34." Hotch looked down, embarrassed as he remembered what had happened last night.

He had just gone back to sleep.

And now they couldn't find his sister.

But he had checked her favorite hiding spots, and he couldn't find her.

She was gone.

Dave collapsed onto the barstool his head crashing to his hands as he contemplated all of the awful horrible things that could be happening to JJ. To his daughter.

She had run away.

Derek ran off, the information sparking an idea as he rushed to find officers to help him search the wooded area surrounding Dave and Emily's gigantic property.

Hotch shuffled uncomfortably, frowning as he watched Emily shut down completely while Garcia tried to comfort her. After a moment, he pulled himself up to the barstool next to Dave and sat down. "I'm scared Dad." He admitted, not realizing the term that had slipped off his tongue.

Dave too, didn't notice the new title, and instead sat up and wrapped his arm around the boy. "Me too, Son. Me too."

* * *

><p>She was cold.<p>

And scared.

And her tummy didn't feel good.

Sucking on her fingers, she leaned up against a large tree, jumping as she heard a soft rustling from a bush ahead of her. Burying her face in her knees, she curled up with Henry the bear pulled tightly against her.

Maybe if she stayed out here long enough, Hotch would like her again.

She shivered, jumping at the sound this time coming from behind her as tears ran down her cheeks.

She wished Mr. Dave would come and find her.

But he probably didn't like her anymore either.

Curling up tighter, her eyelids drooped heavily. Unable to keep herself awake any longer, she drifted into a light restless sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN/**Thanks to hxchick for prodding me to post and to Brynn for checking this all over with her amazing awesomeness. Sorry for any paramedic inaccuracies, _hxchick. _

* * *

><p>"Alright." Derek called to the volunteers, gathering the search party around him. With people clamoring softly and the occasional barking search dog, he wondered if they could even hear him. "Thank you for your help." He started immediately. "We're going to coordinate this search into grids." He sighed, looking at the map of the massive expanse in front of him. "These woods are dense. Stay in your assigned grid and if you find anything, report immediately to your grid leaders."<p>

Reid grabbed his radio, silently passing by the other volunteers as he made his way toward the woods, hoping that JJ was in there.

He knew what it was like to feel scared and alone.

And it hurt him to think the little girl who looked up to him might just be feeling as scared and lonely as he used to feel.

"JJ!" he started calling, not needing to look down at the map as he had already memorized it. "JJ, where are you?" He pled, both to JJ and to some higher power he wasn't quite sure if he believed in.

He heard others, distantly beginning their search in nearby grids, all calling for the little girl.

They had to find her.

Minutes seemed to turn into hours as Reid pressed further into the woods, refusing to give up as the sun reached its zenith.

"JJ!" He called again, rounding a corner as he trekked through the dense woods. "JJ!" He shouted, a little louder this time.

He caught a flash of pink standing out against the dark brown and fallen leaves on the ground, disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared "JJ!" He ran toward the pink flash he knew he had seen, tripping over his own feet as he trudged through the fallen leaves.

He panted, coming up to the tree where he had seen the flash of pink, his eyes softened as he saw the little girl curled up between a large rock and the tall tree beside it. "JJ?" He called softly, his voice cracking with relief as the little girl's eyes shot open in surprise. "JJ, it's me Spencer."

"Spence!" JJ cried, wrapping her arms around him as he knelt down to check her over.

He frowned as he felt her shiver underneath the thin pink pajamas. There was a crisp chill beginning in the late September air and spending the night outside couldn't have been comfortable. Shirking off his jacket, he wrapped JJ in the warm fabric, shifting her gently in his lap. Standing easily, he brushed the leaves out of her hair absently as he held her securely.

"Come on JJ. Let's take you home." He smiled, not willing to lessen his grip on the child even to pull out his radio to let the others know.

He had found her.

* * *

><p>Emily didn't even turn as she heard the sliding glass door open to the large Great Room.<p>

People had been in and out of the house all morning.

All she could think about was the small little girl lost somewhere in the cold.

Was she hurt?

Was she scared?

Was she alive?—Emily could barely ask herself that question, tears brimming at her eyes at the knowledge of the possible outcomes.

JJ was only seven.

Hotch—he hadn't known, she didn't blame him at all.

But JJ was just a child.

A familiar voice cleared his throat in the nearly empty home, penetrating the fog Emily felt herself in. Confused, as she remembered that Reid was supposed to be helping with the search, her curiosity got the better of her, making Emily look up. Curiosity changed to shock as her eyes took in what her mind could not even comprehend.

There, in Spencer Reid's lanky thin arms, lay her daughter.

"I think she fell back asleep." Reid murmured softly as he lay JJ next to Emily on the couch.

"You found her!" Emily clung to the child tightly, relieved to feel JJ stir underneath her arms and cling to her tightly. Only as expert hands seemed to try to pry her daughter out of her arms did she realize other people had entered the room with Reid.

"Emily." Derek cleared his throat, unexpectedly overcome with emotion at the sight of Emily's raw emotion. "You've got to let them check her out. We brought her right here, but an ambulance is pulling up to the front of the house to take her to the hospital."

Before Emily could even think to comply, the front door crashed open and she felt JJ jump nearly a feet in her arms. JJ clutched her bear tighter and whimpered slightly.

"Where the hell is she?" Dave burst into the room, Hotch trailing slowly behind as the FBI Profiler pushed past people until he caught sight of the child in Emily's arms. Gulping down at the swell of emotions, he didn't bother to swipe at the tears that collected in his eyes. "Is she okay?" He asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"She's got a fever." Emily announced, the paramedics still kept at arm's length while Emily cradled the child who clung tightly to her and the small teddy bear with white knuckles. Another set of medics entered the home with a stretcher, looking at their colleagues in uneasy surprise.

"Em. Let them take her." Morgan coaxed again. "She's got to get checked out by the doctors."

Reluctantly, Emily nodded, following closely as the medics took her child and placed her on a soft stretcher. She reached forward, clasping JJ's hand as if unable to let go of JJ for more than a second for fear that the child would disappear again, not noticing the teddy bear fall haphazardly to the floor. As the stretcher moved forward, Emily kept in pace, gently pulling out leaves and twigs from JJ's hair.

Dave hesitated, well aware that not all of them could ride along in the back of the ambulance, but hating the thought of letting JJ out of his sight.

"Come on Hotch, we'll meet them at the hospital." Dave instructed, watching from the doorstep as the ambulance doors shut with his tiny child inside before turning back to find his keys.

Hotch nodded, biting the inside of his lip as he picked up Henry the bear and followed Dave to the garage without a word.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: **_I'm trying to make a more focused effort to write what other people like to read (because usually, I have no problem writing what I want to read, but I'm trying to make this about YOU too). If you have any suggestions or scenes you'd like, I'd love to hear it._

* * *

><p>It seemed to take forever, waiting in the large hospital for the doctors to advise the nerve-wracked parents to keep an eye on the seven year old, but several hours later the house seemed to have settled down from the excitement of the day. Emily jolted awake later that night, jumping out of bed quickly and stumbling around in the dark room as she pulled her robe around her.<p>

"Em?" Dave croaked sleepily. "What're you doing?"

"Something's wrong." She murmured, bolting out of the master bedroom and rushing down the hall with Dave in tow.

The doctors had checked JJ out and said she would be just fine.

But right now, something was wrong.

"JJ?" Emily crept slowly into the child's room, not wanting to bother her if her instincts weren't correct.

The little girl whimpered slightly and in an instant, Emily was at her side. "Sorry." JJ murmured in a pained groan as she clutched her sheets tighter.

"How is she?" Dave asked, flipping on the lights as he stood in the doorway, concerned.

"Get me a thermometer, she's burning up." Emily ordered.

Dave cursed under his breath and returned seconds later with the ear thermometer in hand. Only as he passed it to Emily did she realize he was already on the phone with JJ's pediatrician. "Hey Steve, it's Dave." He paused, "Yes I know what time it is." He grumbled. "JJ's got a fever, we don't know what to do." He added.

Emily pulled the thermometer out of JJ's ear, cringing at the numbers. "101.2" She gasped.

Dave reported it back to the doctor, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "There isn't anything else you can do?" He paused, grumbling softly, "Ok, thanks Steve." He ended the call.

"What'd he say?" Emily asked, rubbing JJ's back soothingly.

"He said if it hits 102 to take her to the Emergency Room, but before that it's probably just a cold from this morning."

"Just a cold?" Emily asked angrily, gesturing down to the little girl who was shivering despite being drenched in her own sweat and urine.

Dave shrugged. "That's what he said." He reported, just as upset that the doctor hadn't been more helpful. He left out the part where Steve informed him that JJ's temperature wasn't incredibly high.

101.2 seemed astronomical.

Emily frowned. "Get me a cool wet cloth, then. I think there's some Children's Tylenol in our bathroom."

"What's going on?" Hotch asked, his eyes wide and terrified as he stood in the doorway of his own room.

"JJ's not feeling well, Sport." Dave explained before rushing down the hall. "Probably because she spent last night outside." He added, shaking his head with worry as he looked through the medicine cabinet.

Hotch gulped, hating that his sister was in pain.

Especially since this was all his fault.

"Don't hurt her." Hotch pled softly, an uncharacteristic vulnerability flooding his voice, causing Emily to whip around in surprise. Dave, who had just entered JJ's room with the medicine and cloth in hand, stopped dead in his tracks, stunned as Hotch added even more quietly than before, "She didn't mean to."

"Of course she didn't mean to." Dave sputtered, recovering enough to hand Emily the items and turn back to the boy. "We would never hurt JJ for being sick. Why would you even ask us that?"

Emily placed the cool compress on the back of JJ's neck, having an uncomfortable feeling that they all knew too well what made Hotch ask the question.

And just like she had thought many times before, she wished George and Shelby Hotchner were still alive to face the punishment they truly deserved.

Hotch watched nervously as Emily unscrewed the Tylenol before leaping into action. "Wait!" He stopped her, "She's 'llergic to the red kind."

Emily winced, placing the medicine on JJ's bed stand.

Would this ever end? Would it ever get easier?

She sure hope so.

"When she was sick before, I had her take a warm bath." He stated simply. "But she throws up a lot when she's sick."

Sometimes, it was easy to forget that Hotch was more than the nine-year-old who liked football and basketball. It was easy for the adults to dismiss that for the first seven years of JJ's life, Hotch had been the only true parent the other child had ever known.

And because of it, the boy barely knew how to be a child himself.

"Thanks Hotch." Emily smiled grimly, grateful for the child's insights but somehow haunted at the thought that he was more aware of JJ's needs than anyone on the planet.

That was going to change.

But not overnight.

"Dave, start a bath." She commanded, "I'm going to get her cleaned up and hopefully she'll start feeling better." Glancing back at the worried boy in the hallway, she smiled compassionately, "Hotch, after JJ's bath you can come in and sit with her." She offered, "But I don't want you to get sick either."

Hotch furrowed his brow as he contemplated her statement. Emily, however, paid him no mind as she easily picked up the child and carried her toward the bathroom. JJ shivered despite her fever and clung to Emily tightly as Emily undressed her and placed her in the warm water.

JJ whimpered as her skin touched the water, and Emily could feel her own heart breaking.

Humming to the child soothingly, Emily gently ran her fingers through JJ's soft golden hair as she willed the child's fever to break.

Dave stood at the door, not wanting to be too far from his sick child, but held back by the child's need for privacy. "Isn't there anything more you can do?" He asked.

"Damn it David, I'm a profiler not a doctor." Emily snapped back, her own patience wearing thin.

Dave grinned despite himself. "Was that a veiled Star Trek reference, Dear?" He teased adding on the term of endearment that seemed to annoy her the most.

She chuckled, having not even realized that her geekiness had seeped out. "I'm not sure whether to be more disturbed that I didn't mean to, or that you noticed it." She admitted.

"I like Star Trek." JJ murmured.

Emily snorted and Dave rolled his eyes in moderate defeat. Unfortunately for Dave, Reid had watched his children a few weeks previously while he took Emily for a rare night out and decided to subject his children to one of Emily's favorite genres.

"I know you do." Emily soothed. "Let's get you back to bed Sweetheart." She coaxed, pulling out a large fluffy towel and wrapping it around the shaking child after helping her out of the tub. She helped JJ dress, then smiled as Dave stepped into the room and scooped up the seven year old and carried her to her room.

Hotch hesitated, watching the adults care for his sister cautiously. He waited, knowing that they'd realize JJ was sick because he was bad.

JJ always got in trouble because of him.

"Hotch?" Emily called to him, seemingly having a sixth sense about the child's hesitation. "Do you want to come and sit by JJ?" She offered.

"Can I—" He hesitated almost afraid to ask. "She might get scared." He reasoned, trying to use logic to sway someone who was nearly wrapped around his finger. "Before, she'd always want to sleep in my bed." He lied, not adding that when JJ was sick he was the attentive older brother who never slept as he watched over her like a hawk.

Emily frowned, knowing the siblings needed one another, but not wanting to let Hotch get sick as well. Deciding that the former was far more important, she smiled at him reassuringly. "Well she definitely needs her big brother." Emily agreed. Easily seeing through his lie, but not wanting to call attention to it, she mused, "But I wonder if maybe you could sleep in here tonight so she doesn't have to move."

Hotch didn't bother to hide his relieved smile and nodded quickly, slipping into the bed beside his sister and holding onto her in a tight embrace that had evidently been rehearsed on multiple occasions.

Emily smiled, not wanting to leave but knowing the children needed their sleep. "Night guys."

"Em'ly?" JJ asked softly. "Will you tell us a story?"

Emily glanced back to Dave who shrugged and joined his family in the purple bedroom. "Dave's a far better storyteller." Emily hedged.

"Nu-uh." JJ shook her head, holding onto her bear tightly and sucking firmly on her first two fingers. "You do it good too."

Dave chuckled. "She has a point Dear." He smiled, leaning back in his chair.

Emily stuck out her tongue playfully before relenting. "Okay. Once upon a time, there lived a little girl and a little boy on a magical spaceship."

"Nu-uh." JJ shook her head sleepily. "No magic."

"Okay," Emily quickly amended. "Once upon a time, there was a man who traveled through time and space in a blue box that was bigger on the inside than on the outside." She began, winking at Dave who groaned audibly.

"Seriously? You guys buy this?" He asked, only somewhat indignant at Emily's attempt to brainwash their children.

"Shh." Hotch commanded seriously, his own eyes drooping heavily from the events of the day.

Emily grinned mischievously and she recounted the events from several different episodes that she somehow managed to glob into one semi-cohesive story. "…and when the Pandorica opened…" She continued, not noticing that Hotch and JJ had long ago fallen asleep, "The light from the inescapable prison—"

"Em!" Dave stopped her in a sharp whisper, fighting a grin as he attempted to glare at her. "Please. They're asleep. Would you stop now?"

She cringed sheepishly as she glanced over at the sleeping children to confirm his statement. Silently, she and Dave slipped out of the room and turned off the lights. "One day David Rossi, mark my words, I will find an ally in this house."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." He promised, good naturedly. "That garbage is worse than Star Trek."

She snorted, pulling him lightly toward their bedroom while feeling her eyes burning from lack of sleep. "After today, I don't even have the energy to argue with you."

He chuckled despite himself. "And I am probably too tired to remember this tomorrow." He agreed, pushing the door open so that the two parents could collapse on the bed.

It was exhausting, but days like today seemed to make it all worth it.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: **Thanks for everyone who has reviewed, I genuinely appreciate it. Sorry for the long absence, I've ben really busy with real stuff. I struggled with this chapter, so let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>Dave glanced up from the newspaper later that night as Emily flopped down beside him. "Kids asleep?" He asked.<p>

She nodded, rubbing her brow tiredly.

Dave frowned as he watched her closely. "Did you talk to her?" He inquired gently.

Emily nodded again softly, wondering not for the first time if this was the right course of action.

Up until this point, neither Dave nor Emily had cared much about JJ's propensity for late-night accidents. Her psychiatrist had informed them that the wettings wouldn't cause long-term damage to the child's psyche, so their only major concern was to make sure the seven year old was aware that her problem wasn't her fault.

But then JJ ran away.

And neither adult, could bear the thought of losing her again.

So, with the approval of JJ's doctors they were now going to tackle the problem head on.

"What did she say?" Dave prodded, desperate to know more as she turned off the lights. He had worried JJ would feel embarrassed with his presence, and so, despite his paternal misgivings, he had allowed the girls some privacy.

Em sighed, "She seemed excited about the special nighttime underwear." She snuggled closer to Dave, taking a deep relaxing breath as his aftershave permeated her senses. "And I told her we'd start waking her up to help her go to the bathroom."

Dave frowned, hoping that they weren't making this all worse. Admittedly, he had wondered the same thing when they had chosen to ignore the problem. But they couldn't have her running away again. He wasn't sure his heart could take it.

"You don't think we're making this worse by making a big deal about it, do you?" She asked him, biting her lip as she voiced the same debate he was having in his mind.

"She ran away. It's a problem that we can't ignore anymore." Dave stated with more conviction than he felt.

"I know." She agreed feeling reassured simply by his touch as he wrapped his arms around her . "I just don't want to do the wrong thing."

"We love her." He admitted softly. "That has to count for something."

"My parents loved me." She pointed out, "That doesn't mean they did much as parents."

"No." He agreed, holding her closer. "But that's what sucks, isn't it? We're definitely going to screw up, but we are going to do something that your parents never did."

"What's that?" Emily asked curiously.

"We're going to try." He shrugged, pulling her closer.

She fell silent, lulled back to semi-comfort by his strong imposing presence. "And Hotch?"

He blew out his breath. "Is it always going to be this hard?" He asked, frowning as he replayed the events of earlier that night.

"They're adjusting." Emily cringed, feeling her own heart break a little at the thought as she settled in comfortably against him. "This is why child abuse sucks." She said finally.

"So I'm taking it that's a yes?" Dave muttered gruffly.

Emily snorted. "Unfortunately, yeah. I think it's always going to be this hard." Then, feeling a flash of enlightnement, she added, "But I think it's worth it."

She felt Dave smile softly beside her. "It already is."

* * *

><p>Emily frowned a few days later as she finished packing the cooler full of treats for JJ's soccer game when a knock sounded loudly at the door. Wiping her hands on the kitchen towel, she approached to door quickly, ready to dismiss whoever it was quickly and hope they wouldn't be late to JJ's game.<p>

"Mother?" Emily stepped back in surprise at the woman at the other side of the door. Absently-mindedly, she stood a little straighter and brushed her hair back out of her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, Emily. Is that such a crime?" The Ambassador smiled diplomatically. "May I come in?"

"Of course." Emily recovered quickly, stunned to see her mother clad only in jeans and a polo shirt rather than her trademark business suit. "Please come in."

JJ trampled down the stairs in her pigtails and soccer uniform, skipping excitedly toward the kitchen. She hesitated at the sight of the unknown presence in the room, sliding up to bury herself behind Emily's legs.

"And you must be JJ." Emily's mother smiled, crouching down to reach the child's eye level as Emily simply gaped at her mother in shock. "I'm Elizabeth."

She hadn't spoken to the ambassador in nearly a year due to her mother's oversea responsibilities.

How did she know about JJ?

To her complete surprise, JJ ducked out from behind the safety Emily provided, the child's face erupting into a wide grin. "Elizabeth? You came for my game?" She asked, anticipation dripping from her voice.

"Oh no Sweetheart, Elizabeth is my mother and she—"

"I cancelled all of my other plans so I could come to your game." Ambassador Prentiss smiled at JJ's happy squeal that preceded the child throwing herself into her adopted grandmother's arms. She glanced up at her daughter sheepishly, "If that's okay with you."

Emily felt her jaw drop several inches, but quickly recovered. "Oh, well—"

"Alright Monkey-doo. Are you ready to go?" Dave called shutting the garage door behind him. "Hotch and I have the treats for after the game in the car. Are you feeling the fire in your belly?" He asked, stopping as he rounded the corner to see the Ambassador hugging his daughter.

Standing just a little straighter, he looked at Emily in surprise.

JJ, having heard Dave and not understanding the adult's confusion, disentangled herself from Elizabeth's arms and ran to Dave. "I have the fire in my belly." She nodded excitedly. "I'm wearing my lucky socks too."

"That's great," Dave smiled brightly at the girl. "Why don't you go join Hotch out in the car and we'll be out in a second?" He suggested.

"Guess what Dave!" JJ ignored him for a minute, pulling on his sleeve with excitement. "Elizabeth's going to come to my game."

"Oh she is?" Dave quirked his eyebrow, glancing over at the two women in surprise. "Well we'd better go out to the car. We don't want to be late."

JJ didn't need to be told twice and practically sprinted to the garage with Dave still standing awkwardly in the doorway.

Emily sighed, turning to her mother she asked, "Do you want to come with us? Or drive yourself so you can leave if something comes up?" She offered her mother a way out, not willing to let JJ be disappointed by the woman who had never been present in Emily's own childhood.

"Nothing is going to come up." The Ambassador dismissed. "I would love to come with you, if you have room."

Dave and Emily shared a confused glance before the former shrugged and smiled. "Let me grab another chair." He turned, still not entirely understanding.

Emily gestured for her mother to follow her boyfriend, wondering herself if she had fallen into an alternate reality.

Because she still didn't know what was going on.

The drive to the small soccer field was uneventful, clouded with light unimportant conversation as JJ chattered excitedly with Elizabeth, much to Emily's surprise. Once they arrived, JJ dashed toward the field where some of her teammates had already gathered.

Setting up the chairs on the sideline, Emily's curiosity got the better of her. "Okay Mother, what is going on?"

Elizabeth chuckled, "I wondered how long it was going to take you to ask me that." She scoffed. "I'm surprised you waited this long."

"Mother?" Emily prodded.

"JJ called me yesterday on your phone. She said she was trying to call 'her Spence' and I figured you must have me under 'A'…"

"For Ambassador." Emily and Elizabeth both explained at the same time, the Ambassador smiling sadly with the confirmation that her only daughter saw her as no more than a political figure.

She had heard once that no success could compensate for a failure in the home.

And now, she was beginning to see first-hand how true that was.

"I—" Emily tried to explain, suddenly feeling guilty for going this long without informing her mother of the greatest development in her life. "I was going to call you but—"

"I was out of the country." Elizabeth surmised, understanding. But just because she understood, didn't make it any easier. "JJ invited me to come to her game and so here I am." She shrugged as if it were the most logical explanation in the world.

But for Emily, where her Mother's appearances at _dinner_ were a rare occurrence, this was downright shocking. "You were never there for my games." She added, not bitter, but pointing out the alternate reality they now found themselves in.

"Emily, dear," Elizabeth sighed, smirking as she watched JJ kick the soccer ball to her teammates, "you never asked me to come."

Emily arched her eyebrows, floored.

Elizabeth quickly shook her head, amending her statement. "I have made a lot of mistakes in my life. I know I wasn't the perfect mother, I should have known better—I should have been there for you." She sighed again, once more faced with the weight of a relationship that may never recover.

Regaining her faculties, Emily smiled, placing a comforting hand on her own mother's knee. "You are here now."

And for right now, that was all that mattered.


End file.
